This Small Town
by Vieux
Summary: Tattoo artist Aomine Daiki meets photography student Kuroko Tetsuya, who slips into his life so easily he can't remember what life was like without him. 10 teenagers struggle to cope with personal dilemmas ranging from being disowned to illegally painting graffiti on shop walls. AoKuro centric, but other main pairings are MidoTako, MuraMuro, & KasaKise.
1. Milkshake of Sorrow

**A/N: Back with more Hipster!Aomine as a Tattoo and PhotographyStudent! Kuroko. Why not. This will be a full length story, which means multi-chap, yay! This story will include all the GoMs, but is slightly AoKuro centric. The main pairings are: Midorima x Takao, Aomine x Kuroko, Murasakibara x Himuro, but the story will also include Kise x Kasamatsu. After all the characters are introduced, I will post them along with a short bio in case anyone is confused, but that'll probably be at least 3-4 more chapters. Enjoy~**

Chapter 1:

For Aomine Daiki, nights smell like cigar smoke, ink, and sweat. Except Thursday nights. Thursdays are days where he's allowed to close early- to pull out the chunks of charcoal and rough sketchbook pages before grabbing dinner. Pulling up a stool, he focuses on finishing his current task- an intricate tattoo design for a customer stopping by tomorrow. Suddenly, his phone rings, and he can tell just from the ringtone that it's Kagami. Kagami Taiga, his high school classmate and long-time good buddy.

He sets down the piece of black charcoal and wipes his hand on a spare tissue, leaving black and gray streaks. "What do you need, Bakagami?" He growls, slightly irritated at having his work interrupted.

"I'll forgive you for that insult this time, but only because I need a favor. Look, are you in the parlor right now?"

Aomine's eyebrows begin to furrow. "Yeah, course. Why?"

"Listen, I need you to pick up a package for me from the UPS. Like, right now. I've called them about it."

"Right now," Aomine repeats.

"Yeah, right now. I need it by tonight, and the UPS closes in 10 minutes."

"Why can't you go pick it up?" Aomine complains, but he's already grabbing his keys and getting ready to go.

"Because my shift still hasn't ended, the boss wanted me to work overtime today. Oh crap I gotta go, he's giving me the evil eye for being on my phone. Just go grab it for me, I'll treat you to dinner tonight. Free food. Whatever you want. Meet 6:30 at the café where I work. We can head over to Maji Burger." Kagami's voice sounds soft and rushed, a little like he's whispering quickly to avoid being noticed.

"Fine. But you better not be late."

"Yeah, don't worry. Bye."

After hanging up, Aomine tosses on a red and black flannel, rolls the sleeves a quarter of the way up his arm, and grabs a loose beanie. As he turns off the lights, he decides to bring his sketchbook along. He probably won't have time to come back and grab it before heading to Maji Burger to meet Kagami. Locking up, he puts the beanie on and walks down the street, closing his eyes to relish in the edge of the crisp night air.

Two minutes later, he's pushing open the solid glass door to the UPS building, grimacing at how bright the white fluorescent lighting is.

"Hello, how may I help you, sir?" A worker asks, turning around to smile at him.

"I'm picking up a package addressed to Kagami Taiga. He's called you about it, right?"

"Oh, Mr. Taiga! Yeah, that's in the back. Let's just head this way so we can go grab it…" The worker pushes open a door on his right and leads Aomine through. "Here you go, it's a bit heavy. You got it?" Aomine grunts in reply, shifting the box in his arms. It's not large, no, but clearly there must be something really dense inside, because the weight is already beginning to cramp is left arm. They exit the back room, and the worker movies to the cash register, printing out a paper record. "Can you just sign quickly, right here, so we know you've received it?"

Aomine puts down his sketchbook and sets the box on top of it. Taking the pen, he scribbles a messy scrawl of letters and prepares to leave.

"Oh sorry sir, but there are a few more papers you'll have to sign and fill out. This is a special delivery, so we need absolute confirmation that it has been picked up." The worker smiles half-apologetically and passes him another stack of papers. Aomine carelessly scribbles a few words down on all of them and then checks one of his many watches on his arm. 6:28.

"Ah crap I'm running late. Is that all?"

"Yeah that's it, have a nice day sir!" the worker calls out from behind him as Aomine quickly grabs the box and takes off…

…leaving his sketchbook in the UPS store next to the cash register.

Aomine is already pushing open the door to the vintage café where Kagami works when he first realizes that something is wrong.

"Oh shit!" He curses. He violently shoves the door open, locates Kagami, and hisses, "I left my sketchbook at the UPS. I needa go grab it. You can order first."

Kagami's eyes widen. He knows how important Aomine's sketchbook is to him. "Shit man, that sucks. My shift's up and over anyways, I'll come with you." Kagami grabs his bag and heads out with Aomine, occasionally glancing up to check the time. Kagami jumps into his car, with Aomine quickly following. He reaches backwards and places Kagami's package in the backseat.

They're at the front of the UPS store. All the windows are dark. "Shitttt!" Aomine groans. "I need that! It has a custom design for someone who's coming in tomorrow!" He rattles the door roughly, but it's locked tight.

Suddenly, Kagami calls him. "Hey, over here. This is it, right?" Aomine hurries over to where Kagami is standing, and, sure enough, his sketchbook is lying in a basket placed next to the back door. There's a sticky-note on it- "You left this here, didn't know if you would make it back in time." Aomine cradles the book to his chest like a mother would her child. 

"Thank god."

"Hey, I'm sorry man. If I didn't make you-"

"Shut up, moron. You owe me a damn good dinner now."

Together, they push open the door to Maji Burger and walk in. Kagami picks a booth and gestures for Aomine to sit down, so he does. What he doesn't expect is for Kagami to slide in right next to him as well. "Why are you sitting on the same side as me, Bakagami? There's no one else coming, just sit on the opposite side like you normally do!"

Kagami blinks at him, and then bursts into laughter. A vein pops on Aomine's forehead. "What're you laughing at, Bakagami?"

"Ahomine, look clearly."

"What?"

"Look again, idiot."

Turning his head to look forward, Aomine jumps, his leg jerking up and smashing into the table, when he sees a pale boy with light blue hair sitting across from him. "Where the _hell_ did you come from?" Aomine growls, one hand clutching at his knee in pain.

"Hello." The boy has a melodic voice, seemingly soft-spoken, but there's something in his eyes that hints at aggressiveness.

Kagami finishes laughing, and proceeds to introduce them. "Ahomine, meet Kuroko Tetsuya, my friend and classmate at uni. Kuroko, meet Ahomine Daiki, my friend outside of uni."

Aomine's eyebrow twitches. "It's _Aomine_ , not _Ahomine_!"

"Could have fooled me." At this moment, Aomine can't help but think that insults are not meant for people with such gentle, feminine voices.

He turns to the other boy in anger. "What did you just say?" And then he notices what the boy is wearing. No, it's not his dark khaki pants or the casual red and blue striped v-neck t-shirt he's wearing that's the problem. It's not even his gray lanyard, adorned with an anime figurine. It's _that_.

The beautiful camera that hangs around his neck on a thick strap. The lens gleams, and is so cleanly polished that Aomine swears he can see his own reflection in it. The camera is huge, and just screams _wealth_. So _that's_ the type of guy he is.

Aomine's lip curls in distaste. He settles back into his seat, deciding that this boy wasn't worth arguing with. "So Kagami, how did you guys meet?"

Kagami immediately launches into an intricate story of how his car had broken down, how he had lost his keys, and how his textbook had fallen into a puddle.

"So you two go to the same university?" Aomine raises his eyebrows as he scans over the menu half-heartedly, having already pretty much memorized it.

Kuroko nods. "Yes, we're both entering our second year."

Aomine scoffs. "Almost all of the people who attend uni here are snobbish, rich, or stuck up."

What he really means is, _'you're snobbish, rich, and stuck up'_.

From the look in the boy's eyes, Aomine can tell that he knows the true meaning behind those words.

"Oi, Ahomine, that's not very nice," Kagami admonishes, elbowing him hard in the ribs.

They order their food, and Aomine continues his stand-offish behavior, dropping the occasional backhanded comment here and there about family status. At one point, Kagami turns and glares, flashing a _can-you-just-be-civil-for-my-sake_ look. But really, he should know by now that Aomine doesn't do things for other people's sake, he does them for himself.

Suddenly, the boy stands up. "Excuse me, but I'd like to let you know that I am in fact on an academic scholarship and this camera was a gift. I apologize if I have done anything to offend you, but please refrain from making such back-handed comments in civil or public surroundings. Thank you."

Aomine watches, moth agape, as he sits back down and pretends like nothing has ever happened.

Hm. _Scholarship, huh?_ Now he feels kind of guilty for his rudeness, but that's weird; he never feels guilty.

Aomine tunes everything out and turns his attention back to the sketch he's finishing in his sketchbook. The customer is a wealthy man, and Aomine's sure he could use the money.

"Aomine. Aomine. _Aomine!_ " He's jolted out of his concentration by Kagami's voice. "The food's here already. Jeez, are you even paying attention?"

"He's not." At once all of his previous guilt vanishes and Aomine wants to hit the other boy again.

"I am," he snaps.

"Woah woah, calm down guys!" Kagami raises his hands in a symbol of piece. "Wanna have an eating contest? The winner treats the loser to whatever food they want for an entire day."

This manages to peak Aomine's interests. "Bring it on." He looks towards the other boy. "…Are you going to participate?"

The boy simply shakes his head. "I know I would lose."

Aomine can't help but snort. He kind of hates people who willingly accept unsatisfactory endings without doing anything to change them. "Fine, be that way then. Let's do this, Kagami."

He splits the burgers evenly onto two trays, and they begin plowing through the burgers like there's no tomorrow. It only takes a few minutes before Aomine loses track of exactly how many he's eaten, but he doesn't stop. There's no way he's going to treat Kagami to whatever he wants for an entire _day_. He would go bankrupt.

And then it happens. They grab their second-to-last burgers at the same time. Kagami finishes slightly before him. And, in slow motion, Aomine watches in horror as Kagami flails violently, reaching for his last burger, just as the waitress appears holding Kuroko's vanilla milkshake. He sees the accident before it happens, but for some reason he just can't move his body. He wants to scream, to reach out and stop Kagami, but he can't. Kagami's arm lashes out just as the waitress sets the milkshake down on the table….

…right next to his sketchbook. They collide in midair, and bam, the drink flies. Everything returns to normal speed, and there's a huge pile of white… goo on the front page of his book. The page that he needs early tomorrow morning. The damage is devastating. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Kuroko staring and Kagami looking ridiculously guilty. The waitress seems to have disappeared, probably slinking away and pretending as if she didn't just play a part in ruining someone's masterpiece.

Aomine grimaces. He doesn't want Kagami to look at him with pity like that. He opens his mouth to say something reassuring, something like "it's ok" or "don't worry about it", but no sound comes out, so he closes it again like a fish. And then, mostly because he doesn't know what to say, he defaults to anger.

"Dude what the hell?"

Kagami looks horrified. "I'm so sorry. I just… I just didn't see her coming around with the drink. In fact, I didn't see her at all, I was so focused on winning. I'll make it up to you. How can I make it up to you?"

"My customer will be here tomorrow morning. Early. There's no way I have enough time to redesign the entire thing."

"Do you remember it?"

"Vaguely, but you saw how detailed it was."

"Look man, I'm so sorry. Tell me how I can make it up to you."

"Excuse me, but would you be able to finish in time if you had an image of the original work?" Kuroko asks, looking up at him.

Aomine thinks about it. "Yeah, I mean I would just have to redraw the stuff, but the problem here is that I can't remember the exact placement of everything. I'll have to completely redesign it."

"No." Both he and Kagami stare at Kuroko in surprise. "No. You don't have to redesign it. Here." Kuroko looks down and fiddles with a few buttons on his camera, before holding the screen up to show them. "I took a picture."

Aomine leans over the table to see better. It's a perfect picture of his design, before the milkshake ruined it. And the photo quality allows him to even see the small notes he had scribbled here and there. Without realizing it, he reaches out to take the camera. Immediately, however, Kuroko reels away from him, pulling the camera back into a protective position.

"Whoa, easy there," Aomine mutters, drawing his hand back. "Can I uh… borrow this for a second?"

Then Kagami cuts in. "No, Kuroko doesn't let anyone touch his camera. Why don't you just go and print the image quickly?"

Kuroko tilts his head, thinking. Slowly, he begins to nod at Kagami's suggestion, until he frowns. "The print shop is closed by now, they close early on Thursdays."

 _God dammit_ why does _every_ shop close early on Thursdays?

"Look I promise I'll take beautiful care of your camera. I understand it means a lot to you-"

He doesn't even get to finish his sentence, as Kuroko draws back immediately, clutching his camera like it's a lifeline. "Ok, never mind, I get it. I can't have your camera."

Kuroko nods.

"Hey, why don't you just take Kuroko back to the shop with you, and you can draw the image directly from his screen," Kagami suggests.

Aomine opens his mouth to object, but can't find anything really valid to say. Finally, he just nods. "Fine by me." They both turn to Kuroko.

"Um… I've never been to a tattoo or piercing shop before…"

Kagami pats his shoulder. "You'll be fine. I even worked there for a few months before. Aomine'll take good care of you, right?" He turns to stare at Aomine, as if threatening him.

Aomine rolls his eyes. "Yeah yeah, I got your back. Well then, let's go." They stand up, preparing to leave.

"Kagami-kun owes me a new milkshake."

Immediately Kagami cringes. "Yeah, sorry Kuroko, I'll treat you next time we come here together."

Kuroko nods, accepting the offer. Kagami gives them a ride back to the tattoo parlor, before waving goodbye and heading off to his apartment. Aomine unlocks the door and turns on the lights as they enter. "Drop your stuff on the counter and pull up a stool," Aomine commands as he shuts the door.

Soon, they're all set up. Aomine pulls out a fresh piece of paper and a chunk of charcoal before flicking on a separate desk lamp while Kuroko turns on his camera screen. Aomine begins sketching, and an awkward silence ensues. Finally, he can't take it anymore.

"Yo, do you mind if I put on some music?"

"Not particularly. What kind of music does Aomine-kun enjoy?" Kuroko inquires politiely.

"EDM."

"…What does that stand for?"

Aomine rolls his eyes- does this kid live under a rock? "Electronic Dance Music."

"Really? Interesting. I must be honest, I don't particularly see you as that type," Kuroko admits.

Aomine grins as a Zeds Dead tune quickly fills the entire room. He nods his head slightly to the beat of the music while his hand flies across the white page as if in a spontaneous dance routine. Kuroko watches in fascination as long, tan fingers brush across the clean paper, leaving trails of black and gray. Once he manages to tear his eyes away from Aomine, he notices his surroundings.

The parlor isn't particularly large, but it has a very particular style and feel to it. The cabinets hung on the wall behind the counter are wooden crates with their lids removed, just like the type one might find in a shipyard. Even the table that Aomine is currently working on is made from 3 suspended planks of rough oak wood, all attached to the wall at one narrow end. Vinyl records hanging in a neat order spanning an entire wall only add to the peculiar style. Kuroko stands up and pulls an old, cheap polaroid out of his messenger bag. 

"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt your work, but would you mind if I took a few pictures around here?" He asks tentatively.

Aomine doesn't even look up at him; he simply nods his head with permission and continues on his drawing. Kuroko stands up and casts one final glance at his camera. He's pretty sure that Aomine won't do anything to it, but...

Aomine doesn't look up, but he sighs. "Take it. But you better bring it back when I need it. I'll call you over."

Kuroko nods gratefully before pulling the camera strap around his neck.

He wanders around the long room, trying to find interesting angles to add depth to his photos. His hands itch to touch things, to move them around and find the ideal positions, but he has a feeling that Aomine most certainly will not appreciate it. He snaps so many photos that he runs of film, but he always comes prepared with at least 5 new cartridges in his messenger back so it's alright.

Wandering around, Kuroko wonders how long Aomine has lived here. He opens the door to a back room, but it's dark, and he can't find the light. And then it hits him. Literally. A long thin chain hanging down from the ceiling smacks him straight in the face. Kuroko pulls on it, and finds a string of light bulbs along the ceiling edge flicker to life, casting a dim yellow glow throughout the room. The room is filled with boxes and boxes of _stuff_ , each one labeled differently (ranging from general categories like 'bedroom stuff' to surprisingly specific things such as 'silver kitchen fork collection').

But what really catches Kuroko's eye is the half-painted, unfinished mural on the farthest wall. It's beautiful, with dancing neon colors that seem to glow even in the dim lighting. Orange and green pops dance off of the white surface, while trails of pink draw attention to pale blue highlights, the beginning of what seems like it will become a gradient. Kuroko lifts his polaroid to capture the beautiful mural, but he just can't seem to get the lighting right. Taking a photo of the phenomenon just isn't working. He tugs on the chain again and leaves the room, wondering who painted the wall.

Aomine?

Kuroko muses over the question as he makes his way back towards the front counter. Aomine has finished blocking out the entire design, and is beginning to add patterns and details, looing even more focused than before. Kuroko sits down and simply watches him draw while examining his polaroid images, judging their quality. He smiles, noting that almost all of them have turned out pretty nicely, even by professional photography standards.

After awhile, he rests his head down on the table, watching the rough chunk of charcoal being applied to the page. He isn't sure how long he's been observing Aomine, but suddenly the electronic music seems to dull to a pleasant hum, and his head spins slightly. Kuroko fights to keep his eyes open, but ends up giving in to the persistent claws of drowsiness and sleep, his eyelids slowly drooping shut.

Aomine finally adds the last finishing touches onto the design, grinning triumphantly. He sits straighter and stretches, feeling cramped from hunching over the desk for more than two hours. Turning to his left, he sees Kuroko fast asleep, head resting on the oak desk. Slowly, he reaches out and gently shakes the other boy.

No response.

Aomine shakes him a bit harder. No response. Sighing, he leans over and whispers in Kuroko's ear, "Yo wake up." Still no response. Damn, this boy sleeps like the dead. Checking the thin wooden clock on the wall, Aomine realizes that it's already 2 AM. Sighing, he bends over, scoops up Kuroko (who, he notes, is surprisingly light) and carries him up the stairs towards the guest bedroom across from his own. It's filled with Kagami's stuff from a few years ago when they constantly ditched classes. He tucks the boy in and ruffles his hair gently. No matter how much he dislikes an awake Kuroko, he has to admit that an asleep Kuroko is pretty cute.

Shutting the door, Aomine slides into his own bed and lets sleep overtake him, washing over his mind like ocean tides over sand.

Aomine's eyes open slowly, bringing him out from his dream, where he could have sworn he was being chased by a steaming kettle. And then Aomine realizes that the kettle isn't a mere figment of his crazy imagination; the steady, familiar whistling is echoing through the upper layers of the structure. He jumps into a pair of gray and white sweatpants before stumbling into the kitchen, mumbling good morning to an already cleaned up and prepared Kuroko who is…

"Cooking? Are you cooking?" Aomine demands in surprise.

Kuroko turns around. "Of course. Food doesn't appear out of nowhere, contrary to popular belief."

Aomine sits down at the table just in time for Kuroko to slide a small plate with two triangular poached eggs, a warm piece of garlic bread, and a few grilled tomato halves on it. Aomine prods at the eggs. "Hey, how did you make these shaped?"

"A secret family recipe passed down for 200 years, Aomine-kun."

He's 90% sure that Kuroko is kidding, but when it comes to Kuroko and jokes, you can never _really_ be sure.

"Would you like tea or coffee, Aomine-kun?"

"Ugh tea please, none of that awful stuff Kagami drinks in the morning." Aomine wrinkles his nose and cringes just thinking about the odd taste of the disgusting brown drink. Tea is natural, so in Aomine's mind, it's not the 'perfect' breakfast beverage; it should be the _only_ breakfast beverage. Kuroko slides the tea in front of him.

"Given your natural tastes, I'm assuming you don't want any sugar." The only response Kuroko receives is a lazy nod (more like a small dip of the head). Aomine scarfs down his breakfast a little faster than normal, but he convinces himself it has nothing to do with the fact that it tastes _so much better_ today. He just feels hungrier. Yeah, that's it.

Suddenly, Kuroko checks the clock and grabs his messenger bag. "I have to go to university. The breakfast is thanks for letting me stay over. See you later, Aomine-kun."

Aomine stands up and follows Kuroko down the stairs, opening the front door for him. Immediately, they're both hit with a strong gust of frigid wind, and he can already see goosebumps forming along Kuroko's forearms. "Hey, wait a second before you leave." Darting back further inside the parlor, Aomine grabs a random black hoodie he has and tosses it at Kuroko, who catches it in surprise. "…"

"What's this for?"

"It… It doesn't fit in my closet anymore, you can take it." He looks away, hoping Kuroko will just accept his shit excuse and take the hoodie.

"…Aomine-kun's guestroom has plenty of room for him to store the hoodie." Dammit, the lord just isn't on his side this morning.

"Uh.. I mean, it doesn't… fit _in_ with the.. rest of my closet anymore."

"Aomine-kun owns many other hoodies."

"N-no, it's the… color," Aomine mumbles barely coherently, trying not to fidget uncomfortably. Why can't Kuroko just take the hoodie and leave?

"…Aomine-kun is wearing black right now."

"God dammit Kuroko, I'm being nice, just take the damn hoodie and leave before I change my mind!" He snaps.

"Here, would you like it back?" Kuroko offers slightly mockingly, a small smile at the corner of his lips.

Aomine scowls. "Kuroko."

Finally, Kuroko puts the jacket on, and seems satisfied, despite the fact that it's so oversized, he looks like he's drowning in fabric. "Thank you."

Aomine grunts in response. "See ya."

Kuroko smiles and waves, before grabbing his bag and taking off down the cobbled street.

Aomine flips the "Closed" sign to "Open" and sits down behind the counter, preparing for the daily onslaught of customers. And then, he notices a stack of polaroid images on the counter.

Well, crap.

 **A/N: Dang this is long, it's more than 4k words. It's almost 11 pm now, so I think I'm done. I have school tomorrow too, and none of my homework is done. I blame FFN.**

 **Most of the chapters will be somewhere around this length, between 2.5-4 thousand words. I've already got more than half of the entire plot figured out. One of the first fanfictions where I put the proper time into planning… I mean, my outline is 3k words so far :D**

 **Thanks for reading, have a nice day/night!**

 **Ciao!**

 **~Vieux**


	2. Of Borrowed Hoodies & Wild Graffiti

**A/N: I'm so excited about this story so I'm updating again. Surprise :) But anyways this chapter is about Midorima and Takao as well and I'm super excited because- well, you'll see why when you read it. Enjoy~**

 **Also, I included a list of brief character bios below in case any of you are confused by the AU. Check it out :)**

Chapter 2:

Aomine stares out the window, waiting for the clock to hit 12 so he can finally go on break and grab some lunch, when he sees a familiar raven head skateboarding towards him. The figure ollies onto a rail and slides smoothly across before doing a kickflip and landing cleanly in front of the tattoo parlor. He kicks up his skateboard, grabs it, and tucks it carefully under his arm, the one that isn't hauling a thick black case. People all around stare at him funnily, with a few of them whispering and pointing as well.

In other words, it's a typical response for whenever people see Takao.

"Hey Ao-chan!" Takao kicks open the door to the parlor and bursts in with a bright grin.

Aomine sighs. He really doesn't want to deal with Takao on an empty stomach. Takao shuts the door behind him and pulls up a chair next to Aomine. "So, how's business?"

"Usual," Aomine grunts, trying to ignore Takao and go back to his work on his new designs.

"Hey Aomine. Can I ask you something?"

This draws Aomine's attention. He looks up. "Yeah, shoot."

"…Have you ever liked anyone? Like… in a romantic way?"

Aomine snorts. "That's what you wanted to ask?"

"No, seriously!" Takao protests.

Aomine considers it for a second. "No. I would want someone who can challenge me, and so far, the only one who can beat me is me."

Takao nods, seemingly deep in thought. And then… "You know about me and Midorima right?"

It's more of a statement then a question. "Yeah, why?"

"I just want to know what I should do."

Aomine raises his eyebrows as a gesture for elaboration.

"I mean, we used to be friends, but now we rarely ever talk. I feel like he's avoiding me."

"Takao, he's always been avoiding you." Aomine rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, but this is different. Like, he's studying to be a law student. Knowing him, he'll probably get into some prestigious law school far far away, and I'll never see him again."

Aomine sighs, knowing something is seriously wrong. Takao is never melodramatic or depressed like this. "Takao, fate does what it does. The only thing you can do is put in your best effort and try to exceed your limits. After that, it's up to fate."

Takao nods slowly, processing the information. Then he brightens. "Hey, you know, I'm almost done with my masterpiece."

Takao has been talking for awhile about something he calls his 'masterpiece. He claims it's larger than life size. In this small town, Aomine can't imagine where Takao would have found enough room to paint something that big, but then again, it's Takao. "Alright, when are you going to reveal it?"

Takao grins. "I'm planning a big reveal on Shin-chan's birthday. It'll be kinda like my birthday present for him!"

Aomine honestly thinks that there is no way Midorima would appreciate any graffiti painted in his name. "You should show it to him in private first. He might not enjoy your… hobby as much as you do."

Takao thinks about it. "Yeah, yeah, you're right. Good thinking, Ao-chan!" He opens his huge black side-strap case, revealing his cans and cans of spray paint. He tosses Aomine a sandwich. "I got us some lunch. I gotta work in the back on the mural now, finally got some free time today."

"…Takao, you're a drop out. You're time is always free."

"Oh yeah! Right!" Takao grins as he prances into the back room to finish some more work.

Aomine sighs and rubs his temples. This is going to be a long day.

 _Snap! Snap!_

Kuroko takes his last to pictures before standing up, capping his camera lens, and getting ready to leave campus. He's fortunate enough to have only his free period after lunch, so it's become a habit for him to just leave campus. He strolls down the street towards an antique shop around the corner, still wearing Aomine's hoodie. It's ridiculously oversized; he has to roll the sleeves up more than 4 times just so his finger tips can stick out, and it goes down past mid-thigh, but he's cold, and it's comfortable, so he'll wear it. While trying to ignore the weird looks people send him.

He enters the antique shop, relishing in the musky smell of wood and spices.

A green haired figure appears from the backroom and hurries to the counter, calling out, "Hello, how may I help you?"

"Hello Midorima-kun," Kuroko greets, waving sloppily (the sleeves are still to long, and unbalance his limbs).

Midorima glances at him. "Ah, Kuroko. I have to run the shop today after lunch as well, so do you mind if we eat at the café Kagami works at today? It's a little closer than our usual place."

"No, it's fine. Shall we go, then?"

As they enter the shop and sit down in a booth near the window. Kuroko's lost in thought about the lovely fall weather until suddenly he feels vaguely aware that someone is staring at him. Turning, he sees Midorima casting him an analytical gaze. "What?"

"…I'm simply admiring your jacket."

"Ah, yes, it was chilly today." Midorima doesn't ask, so Kuroko decides not to mention anything about Aomine.

"Who's is it?"

"Pardon?"

"It's obviously not yours, so I'm wondering who gave it to you."

"Ah, I had to help out Aomine-kun last night, and it got late. So I fell asleep," Kuroko half confesses half explains.

Immediately he can see the distaste on Midorima's face. "I will be direct1. You should refrain from associating with people like Aomine. They add no value to society and-"

"Really? I found him rather interesting and his company rather pleasant," Kuroko interrupts. "Furthermore, what about Takao? I believe they are friends."

Midorima's brow twitches. "What about Takao?"

"Well, you two are friends-"

"No. We _were_ friends, until he decided to abandon his education and any prospects of a successful future."

Midorima rarely loses his control and temper like this, so Kuroko refrains from pushing the topic further. Instead, the converse lightly about the news. Kuroko mentions briefly the newspaper heading he saw yesterday, and Midorima comments on the court case. Soon, their food comes, and they both focus their attention solely on eating, a comfortable silence descending over the table.

"Hey Kuroko, Midorima. Didn't think I'd see you guys around here this early," a voice says from behind them. Looking up, Kuroko sees that it's Kasamatsu, who also works with Kagami.

"Hello Kasamatsu-san. How have you been?" Kuroko asks politely.

"It's been great. Kise's taken to hounding the café after school for some reason. Keeps asking if I'll go grab different foods with him. On Monday it was ice cream, on Tuesday it was coffee, on Wednesday it was a new candy flavor, and yesterday it was cake."

Kuroko can't help but notice that Kise has never asked Kasamatsu to _dinner_. Maybe because that can be considered as "going out"? Although, Kise probably _wants_ to go out with Kasamatsu. In fact, Kuroko can picture them going quite well together. "Why don't you give him a chance?"

Kasamatsu rolls his eyes. "A chance at what? I have siblings, I don't want to spoil my dinner with them just for that little brat. Anyways, I gotta go because it looks suspicious how long I'm spending at your table. See you around sometime!"

After they finish their food, they head back towards the Midorima family antique shop. Just before they enter through the door, Midorima stops Kuroko, who looks up questioningly.

"…If you've been hanging around with Aomine, have you… have you heard anything about Takao planning his "grand reveal"?" He looks nervous.

"Grand reveal? No, but I can ask for you if you want," Kuroko offers. "I'm heading over right now."

Midorima gives him a raised eyebrow and a slightly condescending look.

"It's just to return the hoodie," Kuroko defends.

Midorima shrugs. "If you ask, don't mention me."

"Is Midorima-kun embarrassed?" Kuroko says with a perfectly straight face. Midorima turns red and glares, before entering the antique shop and shutting the door behind him with a glare.

Kuroko flinches slightly as a particularly strong guest of wind blows him a face full of dried maple leaves. It definitely is at the peak of autumn. He slides through the door to Aomine's tattoo parlor. _It's just to return the hoodie. Just to return the hoodie,_ he reminds himself. He will definitely not stay more than a few minutes.

"Hello, Aomine-kun, I've come to-"

Before Kuroko can finish, a voice calls out, "Someone's at the door, Ao-chan!"

A head pops out of the back room, its messy black hair swishing slightly. "Oh hey. Are you here for a tattoo? Ao-chan is upstairs grabbing some water, he'll be back soon, just-"

"Oi, shut it, Takao." Aomine trudges down the stairs, glaring. "And how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me by that.. that… ridiculous name?"

"Sorry, sorry!" Takao replies cheerfully, not sounding sorry at all.

"Takao, this is Kuroko, he's a friend of Kagami's. Kuroko, this is Takao, he's a friend of mine."

"Ah, could Takao-kun possibly be acquaintances with Midorima-kun?" Kuroko inquires politely, tilting his head.

Immediately Takao grins. "Yup, Shin-chan and I are best friends! Wanna hear about the first time we met? So basically-"

"Well I actually have work to do, so you two keep on chatting down here, I'm going to go upstairs. Call me if you see any customers." Aomine leaves, grabbing his half-finished sandwich off of the counter.

"But wait Ao-chan I was going to eat that-" Takao doesn't get to finish his protest because Aomine is already gone. "Well then."

Suddenly, it hits Kuroko. "Um is Takao-kun the one who is painting the mural on Aomine-kun's wall?"

"Yup. It's almost finished too. Wanna see?"

They walk into the back room and Kuroko immediately pulls out his camera. "Do you mind if I take a few photos? Your work is beautiful."

"Snap away, my friend."

Kuroko isn't sure that they're familiar enough to be considered 'friends', but Takao seems to have this unwavering idea that any of Midorima's or Aomine's acquaintances are his friends, so Kuroko just nods his head to follow along.

Takao continues spraying while Kuroko snaps photos. They manage to keep up an easy conversation, although Kuroko does find Takao slightly too eccentric for his tastes (half of the time he isn't sure exactly which topic the raven head is talking about, but he finds himself nodding along anyways). Finally, they both mutually agree to take a quick break, and Kuroko finds himself lounging, along with Takao, at the front counter. Then, he hears it.

 _Growl._

Looking up, he finds Takao grinning sheepishly. "I was going to eat the other half of Ao-chan's sandwich, but I should have known he would finish it all."

"Would Takao-kun like me to go grab something for him? There's a sandwich café right down the street."

"Nah, that would be too much of a hassle. Wouldn't wanna trouble you…"

"It's already mid-afternoon, I can go grab a few drinks for Aomine=kun and I as well."

"Well alright then. Can you get me a chicken sandwich with extra pickles, 3 slices of tomatoes, no lettuce, no cheese, and a crap load of guacamole? Oh and tell them to put some avocado slices on as well."

Blinking at the order, Kuroko nods. "Alright. I'll be right back." Kuroko walks down the street, pulling his scarf a little tighter when he feels the winds get stronger. Suddenly, he hears an odd crinkling-flapping noise and suddenly he can't see anything.

Wrinkling his nose, Kuroko pulls the offending newspaper scrap off of his face. He's about to crumple it up when he notices the headline; 'Two Dead in Freak Oven Accident'. Things like this are extremely rare in the town. Since the plague, deaths are almost always due to stupid acts such as drunk driving, overdosing on cough medicine, and falling off of the bridge. Oven explosions are definitely a new one. Carefully, he folds the scrap into fourths and tucks it into the pocket of the black hoodie. After picking up Takao's order (the women at the register had given him quite a funny look when she'd heard it), he also grabs a chai tea for Aomine, a cinnamon hot chocolate for himself, and a peppermint smoothie for Takao before heading back. Kuroko can only hope they like their orders as he pushes open the door to the parlor.

Takao is sitting at the counter waiting for him. "Hey, thanks a lot Kuroko. What did ya get me? Oooo, peppermint smoothie? Sounds nice! And ahhh a nice warm chicken sandwich-"

Takao is interrupted before he can finish. "I smell food, guys." Aomine is back, holding a completed and inked design under his arms.

"No, stay away, Ao-chan. You already had a sandwich, this is mine." Takao possessively wraps his arms around his massive grilled sandwich.

Aomine rolls his eyes. "Well then, I'll take a drink I suppose." Kuoko hands him the Chai tea. "Hm good taste."

As they eat, Takao excuses himself to use the restrooms. When he's gone, Aomine pulls a stack of polaroid photos out of his pocket. "You left these here this morning."

Kuroko twitches slightly. It's so small that if he hadn't been watching for it, Aomine would definitely have missed it. "Oh right, apologies. I came here to get those, but got slightly distracted."

"No problem. Hey, your first name is Tetsuya, right?"

"Mhm."

Aomine grins. "Well then, I'll call you Tetsu."

Kuroko almost chokes on his drink at that. Trying to disguise his surprise and push down the choking, he takes a huge gulp of hot chocolate, only to have his face turn red as the hot liquid scorches down his throat. Coughing and hacking, he doubles over while trying to contain himself.

Aomine reaches over and pats his back, chuckling slightly. "Careful, Tetsu."

Kuroko blinks, still not used to the nickname. "Y-yes, thank you Aomine-kun."

Takao comes back shortly afterwards, and everything resumes as if nothing has ever happened. Suddenly, Kuroko is reminded of the newspaper clipping. "Oh, while I was walking down the street this blew into my face. It's about a freak oven accident. I thought it was interesting so I brought it back."

Just as Kuroko reaches into his pocket to pull out the clipping, the phone begins to ring loudly and Aomine goes to pick it up, cursing as he almost trips over Takao's outstretched leg.

"Hello? Hn. Mhm. Yup. Sorry, who are you again? Oh. Ok. Got it. Will do. Mhm." Aomine looks bored out of his mind as he casually twists the phone cable back and forth in his other hand.

Kuroko can't help but feel surprised that Aomine still gets business with his screw-life attitude.

Hanging up, Aomine doesn't look too happy. "Forgot to finish a custom design, the dude is coming in tomorrow. Gotta go." He heads back upstairs, once again leaving Kuroko and Takao alone together.

"So, you were saying?"

"Huh?"

"…About the newspaper?" Takao prompts.

"Oh, yes. Here, I don't have the full article but the first three lines say that apparently there was a power issue in the Murasakibara bakery and one of the lines was ruptured, which caused the oven to explode."

Takao frowns. "Oh dear. The baker and his father… poor people."

Takao looks so sad that it prompts Kuroko to ask, "Is Takao-kun acquaintances with them?"

"Sorta. I know their son, Murasakibara Atsushi. He's going out with Himuro Tatsuya."

"Ah, the guy that Kagami calls his older borther?"

"Yeah, that one. There relationship has been sorta… how do I put this.."

"…On and off?"

"No, they're going steady and all, but it's been.. shaky recently. Himuro doesn't talk much, and Murasakibara's honestly more attached to his food probably."

Kuroko nods, still processing the information.

"Speaking of relationships, how is yours going?" Takao teases.

"..Pardon?" Kuroko asks, looking surprised.

"Well, seems like it's going pretty well between you and Ao-chan-"

"Aomine-kun and I are _not_ in a romantic relationship, we were just introduced yesterday night," Kuroko half-whispers half-exclaims, slightly embarrassed.

"…Well you're wearing his jacket, what am I _supposed_ to think?" Takao shrugs. "And you guys seem pretty close for two people who were just introduced less than 24 hours ago…"

"Takao-kun, the relationship between Aomine-kun and I is purely platonic."

"For now." Takao winks. "Speaking of, why are you wearing his jacket?"

"It was cold this morning and I made him breakfast so Aomine-kun offered it as compensation for-"

"Aha, so you stayed the night!" Takao exclaims, looking excited.

"What?"

"Che, you two seem to be moving awfully quickly for two people who were _just introduced yesterday_ ," Takao grins.

"It's true," Kuroko protests.

"Well whatever you say-"

"And I'm returning this hoodie today, right when Aomine-kun comes back down the stairs-"

"What's going on here?" It's Aomine. He raises his eyebrows when the two turn around and he sees a very flustered Kuroko along with a smirking Takao. "Takao…"

" _What_?! Ao-chan, we've been acquaintances for longer, why do you take _his_ side?" Takao whines, pouting.

"…"

"Apologies if we were too loud, Aomine-kun…" Kuroko hesitantly apologizes, assuming that's the reason Aomine has come back downstairs.

"Nah, it's fine Tetsu. I finished the design."

"Oooooo, on a first name basis already-"Takao is shut up by a particularly well-aimed rib jab from Kuroko and a hard elbow from Aomine. "Awgh, double-teaming me already…" he moans, clutching his sides in pain.

"So what were you saying about what you would do after I came back down?" Aomine asks, turning to Kuroko.

"Ah yes, I was merely explaining to Takao that I would be returning your hoodie. It would be impolite of me to keep it any longer, you must be missing it." Kuroko begins to take off the warm black jacket, shrugging it off his shoulders, until Aomine reaches out and pushes it back on.

"Nah, keep it."

"Ooooooo…" Takao sings from his position on the floor.

"Bakao, I just don't want that stupid Kagami coming after me if he finds out that I let his friend freeze and catch a cold," Aomine snaps, turning away.

"Awh, is Aomine-kun blushing?" Takao's wolf whistle transforms into a yelp as Aomine kicks him in the stomach. "Hey, that hurtttt! Anyways, I'm going to go, I have to finish my surprise for Shin-chan before his birthday!" Takao jumps up and winks. "Also, I would rather stop awkwardly third-wheeling- aha, I saw that coming Ao-chan- oh crap, didn't see that one from you, Kuroko…."

After Takao leaves, Kuroko wonders if he should leave too. The weather is beginning to look a bit gloomy, with a few gray clouds rolling in. "Ah, should I-"

"No, don't leave. Stay awhile, it might rain." Kuroko find sit interesting that Aomine doesn't even have to look at him to know what he's about to say.

"Ah.. ok. So.. do you need any help?"

"Uh not really, Friday's aren't that busy and we're closing in a few hours, so there's not much you can lend a hand on." Aomine plops down on the spinning bar stool.

"Ah Aomine-kun, would you mind if I cleaned up a bit around here? It seems… slightly cluttered."

"What? No it's not, it's perfectly organized," Aomine snaps. Then, seeing Kuroko's raised eyebrow, he sighs. "Fine, clean if you want to, Tetsu."

6 trash bags, 17 wet wipes, and 3 broom sweeps later, Aomine flips the wooden 'open' sign to 'closed', and locks the door. By then, it's raining bullets, clearly unfit weather for a person, especially one that's carrying a few cameras.

"Wanna watch a movie? It's not like you can leave now anyways."

"Alright. What movies does Aomine-kun have?"

"What do you like?"

"Anything but gore, preferably not horror either."

Well crap. That might be a small problem. Aomine scratches his head as he thinks back to his movie collection; _Insidious, The conjuring, The ring, The sixth sense, Paranormal Activity.._

"Uh yeah I have good movies that'll work, let's go," he mutters, deciding that he can _probably_ find something.

In the end, all Aomine manages to find is..

"Love actually, Finding Nemo, or Cinderella… take your pick, Tetsu." He tries to say it casually like he's not dying of embarrassment on the inside.

"..I didn't know that Aomine-kun enjoyed these types of movies." Yes, and Kuroko really isn't helping.

"I don't! I mean, I do, but they're not mine, they're from my friend Satsuki! Moimoi Satsuki-"

"-The technician and data collector at the lab. I've met her. Hm, these do seem like the type of movies she would watch."

Aomine nods vigorously, not sure why he's nervous (the movies really are actually Moimoi's).

"Alright, let's watch Finding Nemo," Kuroko decides. (Random A/N: I remember crying while watching this movie, for some reason)

Aomine rolls his eyes. "Of course you pick the _animated_ one, Tetsu." But he finds himself already reaching to put the disk in anyways.

"Aomine-kun, animated movies are good. They portray deep messages through adorable pictures."

"… Well, better than animated television shows."

"Hm?"

"I don't like TV shows and I don't like animated things."

"But Aomine-kun, a double negative is a positive."

"…Really, Kuroko?" He groans in a sarcastic voice.

"Actually, there's a wonderful anime about boys who play basketball and compete in tournaments. It's quite emotionally interesting. You should see it some time."

"No. I watch manly movies. Like House of Cards, World war Z, Fight Club-"

"Shh, the movie's starting!" Kuroko shushes him.

After they finish the first movie, it's still raining, so they make popcorn in the kitchen and pull out Aomine's ridiculous stash of candy before finally finding another movie, titled The Fault in Our Stars. Neither of them have seen it (the disk was new and unopened when they found it), so Aomine suggests trying it.

Halfway into the movie, Kuroko has been leaking tears while Aomine is trying to pretend as if he is completely unaffected. Wiping his eyes on a tissue, Kuroko looks up and says, "How is –sniff- Aomine-kun not- sniff- crying?"

Aomine scoffs while looking away. "It's not _that_ sad, Tetsu. Come on, man up."

By the end, however, Kuroko is full-on sobbing while even Aomine's eyes are reddening slightly. Throughout the last half of the movie, Kuroko has already gone through more than two boxes of tissues and Aomine doesn't see a point in wasting anymore, so he offers his sleeve to Kuroko.

"No I'm f-fine," Kuroko manages to get out, swiping hastily at his eyes.

Aomine scoffs. "Tetsu, don't even try. Come on."

After that, they watch Love Actually, and Kuroko almost cries again, so Aomine puts on Cinderella and suffers through it while Kuroko recovers. By the end of their miniature movie-marathon, Kuroko is normal again (save for the slight redness around his eyes) and Aomine feels as if he's been utterly stripped of all his manliness.

"It's already past midnight. I should go," Kuroko says. "I wonder if it's still raining." He reaches out towards the window.

"Wait don't-"

Too late. Kuroko pulls open the window and is immediately knocked clean off of his feet by a huge blast of wind, water, and.. is that… hail? Aomine catches him in his arms and quickly reaches out to slam the window shut. "I told you so."

"Sorry," Kuroko apologizes, looking slightly shaken.

"…You can stay the night again if you want. I would give you an umbrella to get home, but first of all I don't own one since Kagami took mine, and second of all, I think that even if I did, it would be destroyed in this weather."

Kuroko ends up taking Aomine up on that offer, as he brushes his teeth with a borrowed toothbrush and changes into some more of Aomine's clothes, although he keeps his own pants this time since Aomine's are simply way too big.

As he polishes his camera lens, Kuroko notices that some of his pictures are still on the camera. And so, when Aomine enters the room to tell Kuroko he's going to sleep, he finds him sitting on the edge of the bed scanning through photos.

"Oh hey are those your photos? Can I take a look?"

Kuroko seems slightly startled, but nevertheless, he holds scoots over slightly. Flipping through them quickly, Aomine notices that they're all wonderfully well taken. "Wow, these are really good, Tetsu."

Kuroko flushes slightly. "I've deleted all the unsatisfactory ones already, that's why."

Aomine shrugs. "They're still good." He stops on one of an old woman holding a bowl of cacti and smiling. "Is this your grandmother?"

"Yes, I live with her."

"That's nice, at least you don't have to live alone." As he looks through, Aomine notices that the old woman makes continuous reappearances in Kuroko's photos. He also notices, however, the gradual degradation of her condition. He stops on a photo of her lying in bed, looking rather ill. "…When was this one?"

Kuroko fidgets. And then… "About a week ago. I just thought that… well, if she didn't make it, I would want one last picture to remember her by."

Immediately Aomine looks alarmed. "Damn, that's serious. Are you sure she's alright in the house by herself?"

Looking down, Kuroko twiddles his thumbs. "She's in the hospital right now."

"Oh good. I mean crap not _good_ , but good as in… she's not alone. How long has she been ill? Can they cure her?"

"She's always felt a little off, it's been almost a year now…They did a few tests. If anything comes out positive, they're going to send her to Tokyo so she can get proper treatment."

Aomine grimaces. "That sucks. Sorry for asking."

"It's fine. It's not like I'm embarrassed about her or anything. I'm proud of her for fighting."

Aomine nods. And then, he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "So.. you ok to sleep or..?"

Kuroko rolls his eyes. "Of course. I've lived knowing for this long, haven't I?"

Aomine scoffs. "Just asking. Good night, then."

As he leaves the room, he turns back and says, "Does Kagami know?"

Kuroko raises his head from his sleeping position that he's moved into. "No, I haven't told anyone else yet, so I would appreciate it if you kept quite. Once again, I'm proud she's fighting and I'm not embarrassed, but I would rather not receive piteous looks from everyone around me."

Aomine nods. To lighten the mood, he makes a joke. 'Honestly, you're here so often you should just move your stuff into this room. It's not like anyone else uses it anymore."

Kuroko blinks. "It's only been twice," he protests, turning a bit pink.

Aomine laughs. "It's so easy to mess with you, Tetsu."

Kuroko scowls. "Good night, Aomine-kun."

Aomine ignores him and continues. "I swear, you're so easy to ruffle, I just-"

"Good _night_ , Aomine-kun!" Kuroko says emphatically.

"Yeah yeah, I'm going. Night Tetsu."

 **A/N: So there you have it, chapter two. It's really long for me, more than 4.5k words without the author notes, so I hope this kind of makes up for the week's time in-between chapters. So what do you guys think? It's kind of difficult writing Aomine because I don't want him to be** _ **that**_ **silent, but I still want him to stay in character, if you know what I mean? Yeah. Anyways, I'm on vacation in Italy, but since I'm an internet addict I'll be posting anyways. Keep your eyes peeled for chapter 3, coming up soon!**

 **Ciao!**

 **~Vieux**

 **Ok so five main characters so far, and their profiles (more extensive bios will be posted during chapter five, where almost everyone is finally introduced):**

 **Kagami Taiga: He used to work at Aomine's tattoo parlor before deciding to go to university and get a degree in health and education so he can become a coach. He is a second year in university. Now, he also works part-time at a local vintage café along with Kasamatsu Yukio. He is good friends with Kuroko, who he met at university.**

 **Aomine Daiki: He owns his own tattoo parlor and holds a grudge against trust-find children and rich families. He chose not to pursue a higher education after finally graduating from high school. He is known to be good friends with Takao Kazunari.**

 **Kuroko Tetsuya: He currently lives alone, as his grandmother has fallen ill and is in the hospital while his parents passed away due to the mysterious plague more than 10 years ago. He is a photography major in the local University, having been accepted on a scholarship. He is a second year. He is also known to be good friends with Kagami Taiga and Midorima Shintarou.**

 **Takao Kazunari: He is a graffiti artist who dropped out of high school. He is shown to be good at skateboarding, and to have planned a surprise for Midorima's birthday. He is known to currently be good friends with Aomine Daiki, and to have previously been close friends with Midorima Shintarou.**

 **Midorima Shintarou: He is the son of an antique collector, and often helps his father run the shop when he is not studying to become a defense attorney. He is a law major in the local university, also a second year like Kuroko Tetsuya and Kagami Taiga. He used to be good friends with Takao, and is currently good friends with Kuroko Tetsuya.**

 **Kasamatsu Yukio: ? (bio will be included in chapter five after more plot is revealed)**


	3. Tuning Out the World

**A/N: I'm on vacation in Italy right now and let me just say, the food is utter perfection 3. So when I'm not taking photos of the Pantheon or buying shoes in Florence, I'll be updating my fanfiction :) Enjoy chapter three, because I'm finally introducing Himuro and Murasakibara here~**

 **Also, disclaimer, I'm writing this on the train from Florence to Venice so I apologize for any grammatical/spelling errors… This chapter is also a lot shorter than my other chapters because almost everything dramatic is happening in the next chapter (chapter four) so this is almost entirely adding more to the build up that chapters one and two have already developed.**

* * *

Chapter 3:

Aomine yawns and trudges down the hall to the kitchen. He frowns slightly as he notices a scrap note left on the counter;

" _Aomine-kun, I have to head to the studio in uni because the photographer for today's scheduled shoot is ill. Apologies for the sudden disappearance. Thank you for letting me stay over last night. I will come back to pick up a few of my things."_

Aomine sighs. Saturday mornings aren't too busy, so he begins making his cup of tea while looking for his sketchbook. He sets up his record player, but realizes that he can't find any good music.

"Great." Groaning, he decides to stop by the music store on the southern corner, only a five-minute journey from the parlor if he (il)legally cuts through a few hedges. And a few backyards. And also a few gardens. Well, better to leave now before he has to open the shop for the day.

* * *

To be fair, he's pretty efficient. In all, Aomine manages to make it to the shop with only 3 leaves sticking out of his hair and a slight bit of mud caking on his leather combat boots. Once again, pretty efficient. Pushing open the door to the shop, he rakes a hand through his blue hair to shake off the leaves. He's about to announce his arrival when he hears voices arguing.

"Atsushi, you can't keep eating all your problems away, it's not healthy."

"Ahn? Muro-chin should stop lecturing me when he's losing his hearing from his headphones."

"It's a vicious cycle, I've read about it on the internet. You feel stressed, you eat, you grow in size, you feel more stressed, and so on."

"Being _fat_ is not my problem."

"I know, I mean that the nature of the issue is similar. You're stuck in an eternal loop, and that's not good for you, Atsushi. You need to talk to people, to communicate. I understand if you're feeling depressed but-"

"I'm not _depressed_ , Muro-chin. You wouldn't understand anything, you're the one who still has two healthy parents who love you. And you shouldn't be lecturing me about talking to people when all you do is listen to your stupid music all day!"

"I'm sure neither your father nor your grandfather would want-"

"Don't you dare talk about them like you understand."

"God dammit I'm trying to help you!"

"…"

"Look, you should go talk to your mother. I'm sure she's worried-"

"…I'm leaving."

"What? Where are you going?"

"…The bakery or the drugstore around the corner."

"Goddammit Atsushi-"

The back door slams loudly. Shrugging, Aomine waltzes in casually, not seeing any reason to pretend as if he didn't hear. He grabs the 3 vinyls he wants and walks up to pay.

"You were listening, weren't you?" Himuro walks up to the counter and turns on the check register.

"You work here?"

"Stop avoiding the question!"

"Fine. I was listening." Aomine says it stoically with no shame.

"Whatever. Where's your money?" His voice cracks.

Aomine looks up and notices that Himuro's eyes are turning red, and he looks like he's about to cry.

"Look man, if he wants to be a dick about whatever-"

"Atsushi's dad just _died_ , Aomine. And his grandpa did too. I think you need to be a little more understanding-"

"The hell, why are you defending him?" Aomine rolls his eyes. Typical couple behavior. "And what? Who died?"

Himuro sighs. "I'm surprised you haven't heard yet, the entire town seems to know. There was an explosion in the bakery last night, due to a problem with one of the power lines. His dad and his grandfather were trying to fix the oven, and it just… blew. They don't even have any bodies to burry. The largest piece of the room they found was half of a fork. The rebuilding process is going to be painful and difficult, both physically and emotionally."

"So he's just suffering from that PTD stuff?"

"PTSD, Aomine. It's post traumatic _stress_ disorder."

"Yeah yeah whatever. So what's this gotta do with you?"

"Ok so last night, I got a call from his mother. She was distraught and crying, _crying_ , because there was something 'wrong with her son'. I told her I would help, since we're dating and all. Atsushi's always had some parent problems, they've just gotten worse ever since he dropped out of school along with Takao."

Aomine realizes that this must've been the newspaper heading Kuroko was talking about the other day. "Well, you guys should talk."

"We're trying-"

"And no, yelling does not count as talking. You should try having an actual conversation." With that, Aomine pulls out his money, tells Himuro to keep the change, grabs his vinyls, and leaves.

Himuro stares after his disappearing figure, still contemplating whether he should chase after further clarifications. But in the end, he decides to put back on his bright red-silver headphones and resume his music. It's become his habit to tune out the world, and he doesn't know how to change it.

As he nears the parlor, Aomine notices a figure with red hair leaning against the door. Definitely Kagami.

"Oi, Bakagami, what are you doing here?" Then he notices the brown paper bag in his hands.

"It's lunch."

Ok, free food is enough to guarantee him access to the parlor.

* * *

"So what brought you around?" Aomine asks as he grabs two cups from the wooden cabinets and begins to prepare some tea.

"So I can't just drop in to say hi now? Wow how rude of you, Ahomine. Anyways, I still kind of owe you from the milkshake spill a few nights ago so I brought some lunch. You don't need to make tea."

"Ok, you staying?"

"No, I'm going to go pick Kuroko up from his photography job at university because he doesn't have a car."

Immediately Aomine stops his tea-making process. "Hey I'll come with you."

"Wait what? Huh? Don't you hate the university campu-"

"Come on."

"Whoa whoa whoa Aomine what-"

"Let's go, Kuroko's waiting right?" And with that, Aomine heads out of the tattoo shop leaving a very confused looking Kagami to chase after him.

As they pull up to the campus, Aomine looks around carefully. He's seen the university campus, but he's never been around the art buildings. Suddenly, he sees a familiar blue head moving towards him, and he's about to call out to Kuroko until he notices the tall blonde walking next to him.

Behind him, Kagami frowns, baring his teeth slightly. "There's Kise Ryouta, an up and coming model. I wonder what he wants with Kuroko. He's normally not good news, especially with his fan-base tailing him everywhere. They're annoying."

And despite the fact that Aomine doesn't even know the guy, he finds himself nodding in agreement, bristling in irritation. He also can't resist adding, "They're walking a bit too close, don't you think?"

Kagami nods in agreement. And while Aomine's glad Kagami agrees that this 'Kise' is bad news, he feels this unsettling feeling slide into his stomach. Somehow, he almost wishes that Kise would just leave Kuroko alone and that Kagami wouldn't care. When Kuroko notices them both, he says something to Kise, gestures, and then the two part ways.

The moment Kuroko slides into the car, both Kagami and Aomine jump at the chance to interrogate him.

"What did that stupid Kise want?" Kagami demands.

At the same time, Aomine leans forward and growls, "What were you doing with this 'Kise Ryouta' person?"

Kuroko looks slightly taken aback at their questioning. "First of all, hello Kagami-kun. Hello Aomine-kun, I wasn't aware that you were coming. Secondly, I was photographing for Kise's shoot today because the photographer seems to have fallen ill and because I need money in case my grandmother needs treatment. I believe I left Aomine-kun a note about the other photographer's unfortunate development this morning."

Kagami blinks. "You left this aho here a note?" He looks slightly confused.

"It's a long story, Kagami-kun. Please refrain from asking," Kuroko sighs as he puts on his seatbelt. "Also, why am I the one who must sit in the backseat?"

"Because there's obviously no way _I_ could sit in the back, and this baka is driving. Anyways, yes, just don't ask Bakagami. It's a long story." Aomine can't help but kind of want Kagami to ask about it, and he unconsciously tries to goad him into questioning.

"Hah? Wait but what-"

"Kagami-kun, could you please drive? We've been sitting here stationary for the past two minutes," Kuroko interrupts him.

Aomine scowls slightly. He swears that Kagami was about to ask. "Whatever, let's go back to the parlor first."

When they enter the parlor, Aomine kicks off his shoes and settles in at the counter, swiveling casually in the black bar stool. "So you guys staying around? I normally get a few customers in the afternoon but Takao might drop in from time to time too."

"Nah man, I gotta go finish my shift since my lunch break ends in five minutes. I'm also covering for Kasamatsu today because he wants to avoid being stalked by Kise."

Aomine raises an eyebrow. "Kise is stalking Kasamatsu?"

"Yeah, apparently Kise's been hounding the café like a puppy," Kagami snorts while he shoulders his bag.

"But don't you think that Kasamatsu-kun should give Kise-kun a chance?"

Immediately they both turn to stare at Kuroko as if he's just grown 2 other heads.

"Kasamatsu has siblings and he's actually responsible, what would he do with someone like Kise?" Kagami points out.

"Yes, but they do compliment each other rather well, don't they?"

Aomine shrugs. "Maybe. I don't know either of them too well. Anyways, you staying around, Tetsu?"

"Hm… I believe I have some time to spare." Kuroko smiles slightly, and Aomine can swear he's just being cheeky.

Aomine snorts and ruffles Kuroko's hair. "Stop trying to pretend like you actually have something better to do."

Kagami looks at them slightly funnily.

"What?" they both demand at the same time.

"Nothing, just wondering when you guys became such good friends."

Aomine shrugs. "I dunno, we've been pretty close since the milkshake incident. Anyways, don't you have your shift?"

Kagami smirks. "I see how it is, you want me to stop third wheeling. Well, I'll leave since it looks like I've overstayed my welcome here." As he turns to go, Kuroko gives him a sharp elbow jab and Kagami doubles over in pain, clutching his ribs.

"Dammit Kuroko, that still hurts like hell."

* * *

After Kagami leaves, Aomine turns around only to find Kuroko pulling out a white calendar.

"Aomine-kun, may I please borrow one of your pens very quickly?"

"Yeah sure. Why?" he asks as he hands a blue felt-tip pen and a scrap of paper to Kuroko. "Check if that has ink, it might be out."

Kuroko scribbles randomly on the scrap, and it is revealed that the pen does indeed have enough ink to function. "Thank you, Aomine-kun."

Aomine watches curiously as Kuroko circles a date on his calendar.

"What's so special about the seventh?" Aomine wonders (A/N: I know that Midorima's birthday is _actually_ in July, but for the sake of fitting into my timeline of events it is now sometime in fall).

"Nothing much."

"Well it's obviously important if you're circling it," Aomine rolls his eyes.

Kuroko looks up. "It's Midorima-kun's birthday. I believe Takao-kun is planning his grand reveal on the seventh as well for that very reason. I need to purchase a present over the weekend, preferably early today since I have some photography homework assignments due tomorrow."

Ah, right. Kuroko and Midorima are quite good friends. "Would you like help?" Aomine offers.

He swears that the corner of Kuroko's lips twitch into a slight smile. "Is Aomine-kun offering his?"

"Maybe, if I'm in a good mood."

"Alright, so what should I get?"

* * *

 **A/N: Yes I know that was really short (like half the length of my other chapters) but that's mostly because I didn't plan for any drama to occur in this chapter. I'm also working on a very complicated prince of tennis AU plot outline right now so I apologize in advance if my next update is not immediate. I'm probably going to write it on the plane back home if I don't get time before that.**

 **Ciao!**

 **~Vieux**


	4. The Sky is Crying

**A/N: Hi guys chapter four is now up! Warning: lots of stuff happens here :) Anyways, thank you to all my lovely reviewers because you guys are super sweet and really motivate me to keep writing! I'm considering doing a Q & A session for anyone who wants to know a bit more about the story, the AU world, the characters, etc. Tell me if you guys feel like you'd be interested in having one! Enjoy~**

 **P.S. This chapter is kind of sad-ish after the first 500 words or so… but it features all the main pairings.**

 **I also created a poll for my next KnB fanfiction I choose to write, and you can view it on my profile! Open my profile in a new tab and complete the poll when you're finished reading if you'd like to! Because I do take requests but only occasionally, this is a good chance for you guys to tell me what pairings you are interested in seeing fanfiction about. Thanks! Enjoy~ (for real this time, unlike the above enjoy)**

* * *

Chapter 4: The Sky is Crying

"Ow ow ow Kurokocci! Kagamicci! Save me!"

"Stay still, you stupid blonde!" Aomine growls, carefully cleaning the end of his metal tattoo gun. "It'll get messed up if you move."

"It hurts!" Kise wails, flailing violently as Kagami and Kuroko struggle to hold him down.

"Kise-kun, we haven't even started yet."

"Ah? Really? Oh. Whoops!" Kise relaxes and calms down noticeably, winking cheerfully. "Ok then. Tell me when you're going to start, Aominecci!"

Yes, Aominecci. Dear lord.

Aomine sighs. As if he doesn't already have enough trouble dealing with one nickname addict (hint: 'Ao-chan! Shin-chan!) "Alright blondie, get ready. I'll start on the count of three," Aomine warns.

"One." Kise tenses up very slightly, but retains his relaxed posture.

"Two!" And Aomine immediately begins the tattoo without any further warnings, pressing the cold metal against Kise's pale skin.

"AHH? But you said on the count of three-"

"Shut up and stop moving. Tetsu, Bakagami, restrain him." Aomine works as quickly as possible, hoping to finish before Kise loses his patience. Or his nerves. After a mere five minutes, he finishes and wipes his hands down on a nearby rag. "Finished."

Kise sits up slowly and looks in the mirror at the three small stars inked low on his prominent hip bone (mainly since Kise claims that his mother will throw a fit if she notices anything, and apparently he often does shirtless shoots). "Wow, it actually looks nice!" he exclaims excitedly.

"Excuse me?" Aomine growls, wondering whether the statement is meant to be taken as a backhanded comment.

Kise continues, ignoring Aomine. "I'm so glad Kurokocci told me about you, Aominecci! As soon as I heard about your parlor I knew that I wanted to get a tattoo here! And also…"

Aomine tunes out Kise's continuous rambling and focuses instead on Kuroko, who's smiling slightly. For some reason, he feels weirdly proud that Kuroko told Kise about him. Maybe because this means that he and Kuroko are actually pretty close friends?

Aomine is brought back to reality when Kise stands up and charges towards the door, dropping a wad of crumpled cash onto the counter as he passes. "Sorry Kurokocci, Aominecci, Kagamicci- I gotta run, I have a shoot in like 10 minutes!" The rambunctious, hyperactive blonde dashes out the door before any of them can even bat an eyelash. Just as Aomine is about to speak up, Kagami's phone rings, the familiar Green Day tune filling the room.

"Sorry, you guys hang out for a second while I get this call," Kagami mutters as he too steps outside. As he and Kuroko wait, a soft yet comfortable silence descends over them. Everything's great for a moment; Aomine mentally makes plans for all three of them to grab some dinner together before he takes Kuroko to an abandoned park. He's 99% sure that Kuroko will like it, with its slightly rustic yet timeless charm and the gentle breeze in the air.

And then Aomine looks outside and his life seems to end. It begins raining. Again. "God dammit, why is it raining!" he snarls loudly, startling Kuroko next to him. "Oh shit sorry Tetsu.."

"Aomine-kun should use less vulgar language."

He shrugs. "Just can't help it."

Then, Kagami comes back inside to finish his call, and Aomine knows something is wrong just from the way his eyebrows furrow and his fingers clench.

"I don't care about him," Kagami snarls. "I don't want anything to do with that dirty fortune, the mansion mice can have it for all I care!" And with that, he hangs up, sighing heavily.

"Bad news?" Aomine raises his eyebrows.

"…My mom… wants me to go to Tokyo."

"What?" Kuroko looks equally confused.

"Does this have to do with how your dad disowned you or some crap like that?"

Kagami's fingers are trembling slightly, just like his voice when he finally speaks. "Y-yeah. My dad disowned me, but it isn't official or anything. There aren't any records, w-we just kind of… drifted a-away- apart from each other. But now… apparently he's in the hospital because of some stupid sort of medical disease thingy… t-the one where your blood is too thick or something? A-a… s-stoke? Stock?"

"Stroke," Kuroko corrects immediately. "It's actually also when your arteries narrow and blood can't flow as normal anymore."

"Y-yeah, that thing. Anyways, the doctors think it may be life-threatening, and my parents want to s-sort out all their legal affairs before… well.. you know. So-"

"The inheritance," Aomine interrupts immediately. He might not be as book smart as Kuroko or as well read as Midorima, but he can connect the dots, and he is almost certain that the Kagami family is worried about their heir. And their fortune.

Kagami blinks, surprise flashing over his glum face. "Yeah. How'd you know? Whatever. Basically I'm the closest living relation, as a direct descendant. Screw that, apparently I might be the _only_ living relation. I think my aunt passed away a few months ago from a car accident."

"So Kagami-kun is going back to Tokyo?" Kuroko questions, tilting his head inquisitively.

"I don't know…"

Aomine's shrugging and nodding along until Kuroko suddenly straightens. "You should go." They both stare at him. "Kagami-kun, your parents must be under a lot of stress at the moment. Regardless of whatever they've done to you, they're still your parents. And trust me, no one will ever be able to replace them in your life. You don't want to have any regrets."

He speaks softly, in a measured and careful voice, and Aomine notices that partway through, his eyes drift downwards to focus awkwardly on the ground. His baby blue hair sweeps forward to hide part of his face, but Aomine is pretty sure he's either tearing up or becoming nostalgic. Aomine should probably do something.

"Well, I'm with Tetsu on this one." Aomine slings his arm around Kuroko's shoulders and yanks him over. "Parents are important sometimes, and you should try to mend your relationship with yours while you can. Everything'll be fine here, we'll make sure of that."

Both Kuroko and Kagami look.. surprised? No, touched.

"What? Don't look at me like that. I'm just speaking my opinion," Aomine snaps, feeling a slight blush rise to his cheeks. "Just go dude."

"Ok, well then I'm leaving right now."

"What?" They both say simultaneously.

"My mom wants me to head out _right now_. Like, _this minute_ right now. This _second_. She told me not to pack stuff." Kagami sighs and feels around his pocket for his keys. "Where did I put my keys again, Ahomine?"

Kuroko rolls his eyes and nudges Aomine gently, gesturing to a pile of papers near him. Flipping through, Aomine finds Kagami's keys hiding between a few loose leaflets. "Here you go, Bakagami. When you gonna be back?"

"I don't know. Maybe not for a long time. Why, gonna miss me?" Kagami smirks at them both, trying miserably to remain upbeat.

"You wish," Aomine snaps. "A-anyways, you never returned my umbrella."

"Oh shit sorry. I'll get around to it as soon as things calm down a bit-"

"It's fine. Just keep it," Aomine interrupts. "If you didn't borrow it, I think I wouldn't be as close with Tetsu here as I am now." He ruffles Kuroko's soft hair locks out of habit.

"Goodbye, Kagami-kun." Aomine doesn't dare look towards Kuroko, because he knows somehow that the smaller boy is tearing up, and if he looks, his eyes might just start reddening as well.

"Bye Kuroko."

All three of them hug for a moment or two, and then Kagami grabs his backpack before pushing the door open and jumping into his car. "I'll definitely come back some day, whenever I have time. Call me, both of you!" And then he's gone, driving far away. Far, far, far away, to somewhere Aomine and Kuroko can only visit in their dreams.

It's ridiculously bittersweet, and Aomine honestly tries his hardest not to cry, more for Kuroko's sake than his own. Although honestly, they both know that's just a mere excuse he tells himself in his mind; just another lie in his attempt to bury the truth.

As they turn to go back inside, Kuroko swears he sees a flash of blonde off to one side. He whips around, straining his eyes while trying to see if he can make out anyone in the dark alleyway across the street.

"Oi, Tetsu, come on. The over-hang won't keep us dry forever. Get in before you catch a cold."

Kuroko nods and follows Aomine back into the shop, assuring himself that there definitely isn't anyone outside. Not anyone he knows, at any rate.

And then…

Kuroko's phone rings. Aomine's heart sinks to the bottom of his chest like a 30 pound anchor, because god if Kuroko is leaving forever too-

"Ah, it's just a reminder. Today's Midorima-kun's birthday."

Aomine relaxes, until he realizes. Turning to look at Kuroko, the stricken expression he sees explains everything.

"Takao," They both say exactly at the same time.

Really, Aomine prefers not to make a habit of shutting all his blinds and turning off all the lamps except one old-fashioned one that runs on kerosene (A/N: it's this black lamp oil stuff). But then again, Aomine also does not know anyone as paranoid as Kuroko about lightening. "You never know, it could kill one of us at any time. Does your parlor have a lightening pole?"

"The hell is that? You know what, just chill. I'll grab some food and we can snooze a bit under some blankets on the couch, alright?"

And so, minutes later, Aomine somehow ends up building a mini-fort out of blankets and pillows, while Kuroko watches judgementally. "Aomine-kun, I don't think-"

"Shh. Don't say anything. I'm trying to concentrate." He licks his lips while trying to balance a larger pillow perfectly on top of a thinner, smaller one. "This is the finishing touch."

He sees Kuroko's lips twitch up slightly in his peripheral vision.

"Come on, get in here, it's warm." After Kuroko crawls in (because no matter how silly it looks, Aomine's fort really is like a portable furnace), they both end up falling asleep while listening to the rhythms of the rain.

* * *

"Come on, pretty boy. Come at me now." The voice sneers deep into Kise's ear, the unknown man's hot breath puffing disgustingly on his neck.

"Let go of me-"

 _Crack!_

"Oops! Looks like I used to much strength, there goes a finger bone!" The man cackles as Kise holds in a whimper, wondering whether his finger is broken or just dislocated.

"Hm, you should teach him a lesson. This boy has too much nerve, trying to stop us from getting high."

"It's not good for you, it's illegal-"

 _Crack!_

"That's a second finger broken now. This'll teach you to think before you act, little blondie."

A wet, grimy boot pushes into his stomach, digging so deep that Kise thinks he's going to pass out. And then suddenly everything is woozy. His vision isn't really blurring, but his limbs feel heavy like he's just woken from a deep, long sleep. And he can faintly hear the voices of the three men in the background, taunting him. Sneering at him. _Mocking_ him.

Then the flashback starts. The first day of first grade- Kise remembers it all too well. In fact, it's sometimes still the cause of his nightmares; the ones where he wakes up in a cold sweat and is unable to fall asleep or even close his eyes for the rest of the night.

The ones he is absolutely _terrified_ of.

The ones he _hates_.

They all come from that one day…

" _Hi everyone, I am Kise Ryouta! I love my mom, my sisters, and my dad! My family is the coolest! When I grow up, I'm going to be famous and act as a role model! My favorite color is light blue, and I like kittens!"_

" _Wow that boy is so lame. He'll never be cool."_

" _Yeah, I can't believe he talks like he's some big shot. He's not even an upperclassman in elementary school yet."_

" _He's so lame."_

" _Who would ever be friends with him?"_

" _I hate him."_

He can't stop the words from echoing in his head. But he's different now. He's a model, everyone loves him, and yet… and yet…

"Oi damn pretty boy, head in the clouds?" A voice snaps as a bony hand yanks his blonde hair back. He shivers as the fingernails rake over his scalp.

" _Hey you. Thanks for letting me borrow a pen in class. As repayment… Wanna sit with us?"_

" _Sit… with.. you guys?"_

" _Yeah. I'm Kasamatsu Yukio, and these are my friends. We noticed that you normally go out somewhere else to eat your lunch, so we thought you might enjoy some company if you're going to eat inside today."_

" _Really?"_

" _Yeah come on."_

" _But we're not allowed to sit here, the-"_

" _Upperclassman? Listen. You can't let them push you around! We third graders have to unite and show them that we ARE strong!"_

Kise remembers giggling at the time. But…looking back…

He starts to shake.

No.

This isn't him.

He isn't a wimp, or a loser.

He is Kise Ryouta.

And Kise Ryouta is strong.

Kise Ryouta will never go down without a fight.

He reaches out with his arm that isn't pinned down and lands a decent blow on one of his captor's ribs. Taking advantage of the distraction, he jumps up and tries to get into a better position. A well-placed arm is all he needs to block the next enslaught of kicks and punches, mostly aimed towards his torso area.

But in the end, he realizes that the bigger group always has the upper hand.

As if their three to one advantage isn't enough, he's never even seen a street fight, nevermind _been_ in one. Because ultimately, Kise Ryouta is not a boy meant for violence. He's a boy meant for cakes and phone charms. He's a boy who flirts sweetly with girls and openly cries when getting his first tattoo.

And he's also a boy who is currently about to pass out from pain.

He feels his vision begin to blur, when suddenly…

"Stop!" A voice calls out. "Leave him alone. Now."

He can't really see anything in the dark alley. But the dim street light illuminating his savior from behind makes Kise feel..

Happy. Warm. Fuzzy.

"An angel?" he groans dizzily. "Are you… an angel? No wait… you don't have.. you don't.. have.. arms.. I mean … wings?" His brain is sluggish and barely even functioning right now. He feels like he's falling- free falling down a chasm of shadows. "Wait… no.. are you human… you can't be… you're… _glowing_.." He feels a hand, cold and smooth, against his cheek. "Are you god?"

The last thing he remembers is hearing a strangely familiar snort and getting called an idiot by whoever his savior is before completely passing out and losing his grasp on reality.

* * *

"She's singing baby come home in a melody of tears as the rhythm of the rain keeps time…" Himuro mumbles drowsily to himself as his head nods along dully to the beat of the music coming from his lopsided headphones. Suddenly he starts awake, jumping, and hoping that no one has come into the shop while he's been asleep.

Stumbling drowsily to his feet, he reaches for a misplaced record on the cash register only to slip on a puddle of.. Water? From his awkward position on the ground, he looks up and realizes that the ceiling is leaking. Great.

This is brilliant. After stacking 6 differently shaped chairs and climbing on top of them (not the safest thing to do, considering he's still half asleep), he manages to reach high enough to examine the leak. It's not _terribly_ bad, but it's not all that great either.

In other words, it's like a metaphor for his life. Except right now, his life is leaning more towards the 'terribly bad' end of the spectrum. Himuro reaches into a cabinet and pulls out a roll of duck tape along with a blanket. He's never fixed a leak before, but duck tape is supposed to fix everything, right?

After finishing his… repair processes, he flips the sign for the shop to read 'closed', and settles into the back room. He wraps the blanket tightly around himself while still nodding along to the beat of the song. And then it changes to.. Ugh. Upbeat music. Immediately, he turns off his headphones and decides to turn on the old fashioned radio in the corner of the room. A familiar tune begins to fill the room.

 _I don't know where you're going,  
But do you got room for one more troubled soul  
I don't know where I'm going,  
But I don't think I'm coming home  
And I said, I'll check in tomorrow if I don't wake up dead  
_

He recognizes it, and finds himself mumbling along half heartedly." _This is the road to ruin, and we're starting at the end…_ "

Lately he's been terrified of letting his thoughts wander, because they tend to rebelliously drift towards a certain purple giant that he's supposed to be mad at right now. In fact, his _is_ technically still mad at said purple giant right now. He just can't be bothered to do anything towards sorting out his emotions.

He checks his phone. Nothing.

Perhaps he should drop a call?

And then comes the irrational surges of anger. Why should he always be the one to mend the relationship? Why should he be the one bowing down and surrendering?

Jumping out of his bed, Himuro pulls out a worn leather album of photos that Kagami got from his friend (who's apparently a photography major) and begins pulling out all of the ones with Murasakibara in them. He leaves one picture. Not because he's still hung up or anything.

No, Himuro tells himself, it's a reminder of the lessons he's learned.

Slowly, he rips them one by one until he's surrounded by a sea of scraps.

And for the first time since kindergarten, he feels something wet and heavy slide down his cheek.

A tear.

* * *

 _Slap! Slap! Slap!_

Takao can barely hear the rhythmic slapping of his feet on the slippery wet cobbled pavement over the blood roaring in his ears as he sprints towards the antique shop. But hearing his own footsteps is ten times better than hearing sirens. Especially police sirens, considering he may or may not be running from them at the moment.

A right, a left, and.. yes, he sees it. The green 'Midorima Family Antique Collections' sign glowing dimly in the dark rainy night. He grimaces as his soaked plaid shirt sticks uncomfortably to his skin and his jeans get heavier and heavier as they saturate with rainwater.

He ducks carefully into the narrow alley and shimmies through, coming out straight into the back patio-overhang area of the antique store. Panting slightly, Takao wrings out his shirt, watching the water dribble down like a mini waterfall.

"What are you doing here?" A voice behind him demands.

Turning, he sees… "Shin-chan! I-"

"How many times have I told you to stop calling me that? My name is Midorima Shintarou." The green haired boy pushes his glasses up his nose and glares. "Now what do you need?"

Takao decides that actions are worth more than words. Instead of answering, he moves to the back wall, covered by a heavy gray-tan tarp. Wordlessly, he pulls it off, and proudly exhibits his masterpiece.

It's a large, life size mural of the entire Midorima family, with 'Midorima Antiques' in large fancy lettering. Knowing that his 'Shin-chan' doesn't like gaudy graffiti, Takao feels proud that he's managed to do it so well, it looks expensive and professional. He waits eagerly for Midorima's comments, leaning forward slightly.

Finally, after a long moment of silence, he decides to ask. "So? What do you think? Any good? You like it?"

"…Do I.. _like_ it..?" Midorima repeats.

Takao grins and nods enthusiastically.

"…I… _I hate it!_ " Midorima snarls suddenly.

Takao's grin slides off his face as fast as it had appeared. "W-what? I-is that supposed to be a joke? H-hehe, t-that's not a very funny joke, y-you should work on your h-humor-"

"It's not a joke." Midorima speaks in a dead serious tone of voice. "Who gave you the right to.. to.. to.. _vandalize_ my family's property? Y-you've completely _ruined_ the store's image!" he thunders, feeling his fist tremble in anger. "I can't believe you thought I would _like_ it, when.. when it's.. it's _hideous_."

Each word strikes like a dagger blow to Takao's heart. The time, sweat, and efforts he put into creating the mural seem to have gone down the drain faster than the rainwater that is pouring around them. "I-I-I thought you would like it, Shin-chan-"

" _Stop with the annoying names!_ " Midorima yells. Takao immediately takes a step back, having never seen his childhood friend lose his cool like this.

"B-but w-we're friends, and friends have nicknames f-for each other-"

"We are _not_ friends, Takao Kazunari. I will tell you once and for all. _We are not friends_. We _used_ to be friends, before you decided to… throw away your education and your future for some useless form of _fake art_. We. Are. Not. Friends." Midorima's eyes are cold- colder, Takao thinks, than any ice.

"But Shin-Midorima," he corrects hastily, "We were friends for so long. Don't you remember how we used to walk home together after school, or-"

"Stop."

Takao continues. "Or how we used to sit together at lunch while other kids tried to steal your lucky items?"

"Stop."

"Or how we used to spend nights in your room while you tried to make sure I would pass every class for the year?"

" _Stop_!" Midorima's voice is forceful and hard, like steel. "I told you to stop."

Takao can't stop the surge of anger that rises up to meet the equal force of hurt in his heart. "So are you going to throw all of that away now? Are you going to deny all the great times-"

"They weren't great," Midorima snaps. "I was merely humoring you and your immature antics."

"I can't believe you."

" _I_ can't believe _you_ ," Midorima retorts. "We are _done_. I don't want you to come here ever again, and I don't want to hear any rumors about how we are friends. I don't want to hear you call me Shin-chan. I don't want you to talk to me. I don't even want to _see_ you. We don't know each other anymore."

Takao is silent for a moment. And then..

"…You're right. I don't know you. You're not Midorima, you're not Shin-chan. I-I don't recognize you anymore. You don't even recognize yourself. But please, if you just hear me out-"

"No. Leave."

"But the police-"

"That's your problem, not mine. Get out."

"Can I at least cover the wall so the drawing won't run? It's not set yet-"

" _I don't care! I said GET OUT!_ " Midorima thunders, looking beyond angry.

Slowly, Takao begins to back away. Away from the sheltered dry area. Away from the mural. Away from Midorima. Away from everything he's ever known. He wants desperately to say something, but he can't figure out what to say. The words just won't come, and even if they did, Takao doubts that anything will be able to move past the lump choking him in his throat.

He swallows, still unable to say anything. He's backed away so far, he's just standing in the open, pouring rain now. Finally, he does the only thing he can think of:

He turns around and runs.

Takao runs hard, ignoring the cold water seep through his previously drying shirt and running in thick trails down his smooth back. He runs fast, ignoring the buildings and street signs flashing by him in a faint blur amongst black shadows. He run far, ignoring the splashes his soaked shoes kick up whenever he passes through a puddle. He's wet, but weirdly warm, wondering if maybe this closure is all he's ever needed.

And Midorima stands alone under the overhang, dry but oddly cold, watching Takao's back as he plows through puddles and sprays water everywhere. He watches until he can't see anything anymore; whether it be from his poor eyesight, the dark, or the rain, he doesn't know.

When Takao finally stops running, he doesn't know where he is. But he knows that the rhythm of the raindrops have changed. Like the sky is crying, trying to sob a river of tears to mark the ending of a 2 decade long friendship.

Yes, the sky is crying.

Crying for them.

* * *

 **A/N: Finished. I did warn you guys that this one would have a lot of sad-ish stuff in it.. Credits to Fall Out Boy for the lyrics that I used! I see Himuro as the type that would listen to Fall Out Boy, Muse, Pink Floyd, maybe some AC DC, All Time Low, Blink 182, etc. That stuff.**

 **Anyways, this was a difficult chapter, and it's now 1:30 AM so I will sleep.**

 **Also, I mentioned this in my A/N at the beginning of the chapter, but would you guys be interested in a Q & A session? If so, would you prefer it to be only about the fanfiction or about other things like me (favorite KnB character, OTPs, fandoms, etc.)? **

**My friend is doing one of these so I wonder sometimes if I should. Except no one would be interested in my slightly monotonous life T-T**

 **Anyways, the character bios will also be posted next chapter after two more characters are introduced :)**

 **See if you can guess who the two characters that will be introduced are, who rescued Kise, and which two fall out boy songs I used!**

 **I'll give virtual cookies to anyone who gets it right, with extra large digital chocolate chips :3**

 **Ciao!**

 **~Vieux**


	5. Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd

**A/N: Thanks for all your friendly reviews! Congratulations to 0mOri (FFN won't let me type the full username, so before that insert ra dot shin) for guessing correctly one of the fallout boy songs used and also who rescued Kise! Also congrats to NinjaStar77 (a guest) for guessing the same fallout boy song :)**

 **And also, here are the character bios as promised. You can skip this if you want to, because you'll** _ **eventually**_ **find out all this information in this chapter. But if you want all of it in one blow, you should probably read the bios :) Especially if you can't remember small details about the characters, since they may become significant in the future :D**

 **I will be accepting questions for a Q & A! Either PM me or submit your question as a review please! Questions can be about me, the story, the characters, the universe, or anything! The Q & A will be hosted when I post chapter 7 or 8 (depending on how many questions I receive) so please submit your questions before then :) **

**(Also, when submitting a question, please keep your language appropriate for people of all ages, thank you ^-^)**

* * *

Yes, I know these Bios are really long (they're literally what you would find on a wiki :D Maybe I should draw a series of fan art for this series after it's finished?)

 _Kuroko Tetsuya_ : an almost invisible photography student in his second year of university, he is known to be quite close friends with Midorima, Kagami, and most recently, Aomine. While he behaves in a rather educated manner, it has been revealed that his financial situation is not particularly well, as his grandmother is gravely ill (and may be receiving treatment in an expensive Tokyo hospital).

 _Aomine Daiki_ : the owner of his own tattoo parlor, he is shown to have quite a negative or careless view on life. His close friends include Kagami, Takao, and more recently, Kuroko (despite not getting along with him at first). Aomine is also shown to harbor a particular grudge against financially well-off families in the city, although that has yet to be explained. Both his style of dress and his small choices in life (tea instead of coffee, vinyl instead of CD, etc.) help establish a slightly hipster aura.

 _Kagami Taiga_ : a part-time worker with Kasamatsu Yukio at a café near Midorima's antique shop, he currently studies health/education in hopes of becoming either a gym teacher or a coach in the future. He is quite good friends with both Kuroko and Aomine, but has a poor relationship with his parents. Last chapter, Kagami went to Tokyo due to the declining health of his father, who is in the hospital from a stroke.

 _Kise Ryouta_ : a part-time model who is taking art in university, he is often acknowledged for his good looks and overwhelmingly positive attitude. His close friends include Kuroko and a few unmentioned others, although he appears to be growing closer to Aomine and Kagami (despite them both having rather negative first impressions of him). It has been revealed last chapter that Kise was often bullied at a younger age out of bitter, petty jealousy. He currently has a crush on Kasamatsu Yukio.

 _Midorima Shintarou_ : the son of an antique shop owner, he believes firmly in lucky items and superstition. His close friends include Kuroko and maybe Kasamatsu, as Takao and him have had a "falling out" after Takao's "surprise" for his birthday. He is an advocator for quality education, and is studying law in his second year at university. Little is known about his relationship with his parents, but he seems to have the least parent-related difficulties our of all the characters as of now.

 _Takao Kazunari:_ a cheery boy who dropped out of high school to pursue his passion for graffiti and street art. His father passed away 10 years ago in the same plague that took Kuroko's mother, and his grandmother is missing. His mother is working in a larger city far away to earn money for paying the bills, the amounts of which Takao lies to her about to reduce her stress. His love interest at the moment is Midorima, who used to be his childhood best friend. He is also known to be close with Aomine and perhaps most recently Kuroko, although he and Kagami do not necessarily have a bad relationship either. Aomine notes in chapter four that Takao is often shunned or treated as an abomination due to his reputation as a "punk kid" who parents don't want their children around.

 _Kasamatsu Yukio_ : Little has been revealed about him, but it is known that he often rejects advances made by Kise. Kasamatsu is Kagami's co-worker, although their time shifts are different. Like Kagami, he is a part-time student at university. His major is architecture, although he is also considering becoming an engineer.

 _Murasakibara Atsushi_ : the son of the local bakery owner, he often hangs around streets near the shop while munching on pastries. It can be speculated that his family would make more profit if he didn't eat so many of their products :D He is in a relationship with Himuro Tatsuya, but the two previously had a fight and are ignoring each other. His father and grandfather were recently killed due to an oven explosion caused by improper electrical wiring insulation. His mother disapproves of Takao, as she believes that he is the reason Murasakibara chose not to attend university after barely managing to graduate from high school.

 _Himuro Tatsuya_ : the owner of his own music shop located a few blocks from Aomine's tattoo parlor, he is in a relationship with Murasakibara Atsushi (although they recently fought). It is shown that while he and Aomine are not on the best of terms, they harbor a mutual respect for one another. His taste of music reflects his personality, with his favorite bands being Blink 182, All Time Low, Pink Floyd, Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and The Beatles. Never to be seen without his bright red headphones blasting music, it is clear that he does not excel at human interaction or clear communication. Himuro may still be romantically interested in Murasakibara Atsushi, as shown through his angst when they fight (he goes as far as ripping some of their photos together). He may be quite good friends with Kagami, as he owns pictures from him.

 _Who is Dead So Far (this sounds so negative T-T)_ : Murasakibara's father and grandfather, Kuroko's parents (both), Takao's father, more revealed in this chapter.

 _Characters To Be Introduced_ : Akashi Seijuuro (honestly, what would a KnB full length fanfiction AU be without Akashi?), Imayoshi Shoichi (we always need some devil/satan spawn right?), Haizaki Shogo (maybe we've already met him? **wink wink** ), and maybe a few others, who knows :)

 **Alright guys, that was 1095 words worth of character information. Now we will finally get on with the story :) Enjoy~ (see, I didn't forget the signature 'enjoy')**

 **Warning: brief mention of alcohol and drugs**

* * *

Chapter 5: Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd

 _Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Hello, this is Kagami Taiga speaking. I believe my father previously established contact with you regarding the potential of a business alliance."

"Ah, Kagami Taiga, pleased to meet you. My name is Akashi Seijuuro, the future heir of the Akashi Corp. News of your fathers recent… misfortune has reached me, and I send my deepest condolences. Of course, I also send my congratulations towards you for accepting your father's will, regarding inheritance of the company. What is the reason for your communication effort today?"

"Thank you for your pleasant wishes, but this is merely a temporary solution. As soon as my father's health becomes up to par, he will once again take over the Kagami Corporations and I will step down. Formalities and inheritances aside, I have contacted you to continue from where our fathers left off- an economic-political alliance between two of the most powerful businesses in Japan. Would you be interested in continuing?"

"…Very well, _Kagami-san_ , I will listen to what you have to say."

* * *

"Atsushi, please take a seat."

"… I'm busy."

"With all due respect, sweetheart, I'm not really asking. Take a seat. Now."

"…" Murasakibara sits down, bearing a rather dull, uninterested look on his face.

"I understand that you are still growing up. I know that while you aren't a teenager anymore, you still act like one. Your father and grandfather just died. I get it. But these are not excuses for your recent behavior. As your mother, I am concerned. You are wasting away while wandering off to who knows where and coming home past midnight every day. We need to have a serious talk about how you are acting. Is that alright?"

He sniffs discontentedly. "Like you said before, you aren't really asking right?"

Well, getting a full sentence out of him was a start. "Honey, please talk to me-"

"Please tell me we are _not_ having one of those cliché parent-child bonding discussions right now," Murasakibara grumbles. He reaches into his ever present grocery bag and pulls out a bag of chips, ripping them open noisily. He's about to grab a chip when his mother's hand reaches out and snatches the bag from his grasp.

Oh no, she did not. He looks up furiously, ready to retort, when he notices his mother's eyes.

They're _red_. It takes him a moment to realize that she's crying. But after he does, the guilt arrives immediately. "…What? Why are you crying? I've told you before, I'm fine." He coughs and clears his throat, feeling torn between comforting her awkwardly or pretending as if he doesn't care. The latter would certainly be the easier, less humiliating option.

"Atsushi, I know you're hurting, and I'm sorry I can't be there for you. But you should talk to someone. Has Himuro contacted you recently? I asked him to help you."

Ah. So that's why Himuro was acting funny. "…Muro-chin and I have had a… falling out." The minute the words are out of his mouth, Murasakibara knows that he shouldn't have said them.

His mother's face morphs into one of horror and guilt, and he honestly can't look at it without feeling like a villain. "Oh my gosh. Is it.. Is it.. b-because of what I told him to ask you? Atsushi-"

"No." He interrupts, sure that he won't be able to bear watching his mother sob any longer. "I-It's not. We didn't argue, we just… shared our disagreements on a few things. Small things."

The lie isn't really a _lie_. It may be a bit of a stretch to call their conversation a mere disagreement on a few small things, but he can worry about that later; later, after his mother stops feeling guilty and looking like a wounded puppy. He turns around. "I'm going to go see him now."

His mother reaches out and tugs on his arm, her purple hair shifting to reveal her depressed eyes. "I think that would be good for you. Why don't you take a few pastries while you're at it?" She turns around and essentially _shoves_ an assorted bag of cookies, croissants, and Danish tarts into his arms.

"Hn."

Murasakibara An sighs at how her son is again back to his silent, closed off self. "Alright, well…Come back early today if you can, dear."

Murasakibara nods half-heartedly and leaves, the small silver bell attached to the door ringing mockingly behind him.

Once outside, he turns a corner into an alleyway and leans against the brick wall facing the bakery.

What is wrong with him? He knows that visiting Himuro right now is romantic suicide, but for some reason his mind is actually considering it. And never mind how his brain is thinking about it, his feet are starting to move as well. It's muscle memory, he argues. His legs naturally know where Himuro's shop is, and they're moving in that direction only because his mind doesn't have a better place in mind. Before long, he's standing outside the shop door, staring at the dusty records in the shop's display window. Without realizing it, his hand rises and presses against the old but clean glass, right over Echoes.

Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd.

And he doesn't know if it's fate; fate, that his eyes naturally stray to the first album (well, compilation album) that they listened to together.

He isn't sure how long he stands staring in through the floor-to-ceiling window of the old music shop. He probably looks like a stalker by now. But suddenly, the door opening as a customer walks out forces him to move just a few steps to the left, and he can see inside. He can see past the faded music posters and the worn band shirts, straight into the shop. He can see Himuro.

Himuro is acting… well, normal, as far as Murasakibara can tell. He has his trademark red headphones around his neck and his unruly black bangs cover most of his face as he checks out a few vinyl records for a middle aged man with a mustache. His desk is neat, and his guitar is set carefully on the back counter. His favorite framed records are hanging impeccably All in all, nothing seems out of place. Nothing looks any _different_.

Which isn't _that_ surprising, considering he's only been away for… a little while.

And yet, for some unfathomable reason, it makes him mad. Not that he has any right to be, he knows that. His brain knows it, his heart knows it, and his emotions know it. But still; an unreasonable surge of anger fills his veins and makes him almost choke, bubbling in his stomach like a pool of soda that refuses to be digested. He doesn't even realize how hard he's pressing on the glass until he feels it _dent_ under his fingers. Quickly, he stumbles back, feeling surprised at both his strength and his actions.

The sudden movement startles Himuro, who looks up sharply. There eyes connect for a moment, and for the first time, Murasakibara feels… scared? Nervous? Distressed?

The onslaught of foreign emotions that erupt in his chest is too much, and, for the second time that day, his body acts on its own instinct; he runs away. Far away.

* * *

Himuro stares at the window; at the empty place where Murasakibara had been standing mere seconds ago. Or at least, he thinks it's the place he was standing. Maybe he's actually just going mental, and the entire past 2 minutes are actually just hallucinations; just mere figments of his imagination, conjured up by his own mind to remedy his empty heart.

He shakes his head slowly. No, he shouldn't think that way. He doesn't understand why he feels so strongly about this, about Murasakibara. The last time he has felt such a strong emotion about someone was more than 10 years ago. When Himuro closes his eyes, a past moment overtakes his mind.

" _I'm sorry son, but your father was found dead in the bar last night. Wood alcohol poisoning, must have been something pretty stressful weighing him down. We're trying to contact your mother too. Has everything in your family been alright lately?"_

 _Himuro stares at the man dressed in a navy blue police uniform, clutching a clipboard and staring down at him pitifully but sternly. His eyes move to the man's partner- a woman, dressed in an identical uniform with a sleek black pistol attached at her waist. There are so many things he could tell them. Like how his parents have been coming home later and later for the past year, or how they're always drunk. He could tell them how his father quit his job, or how his mother never pays their bills. But instead, he chooses to blink and slowly hang his head, staring at the ground as if unsure what to say._

 _Then, a voice calls out. "Hey guys. I just did a database search. You won't believe how deep in debt these two are. They've been gambling for the past eleven months and haven't been paying their taxes for the past seven. The man is almost definitely an alcoholic, the locals at the pubs downtown say that he frequents the area almost twenty-four seven."_

 _The police officer turns back to him after hearing what the other officer had said. "I'm sorry for your loss, but everything will be better from now on. We'll take you to a better place."_

 _He means a foster family. Himuro knows he does._

" _Any information on the mother?"_

" _Local authorities are checking the security cameras. Based on footage of their conversation while exiting the casino last night, we can assume that she's on the run. Probably the cause for our recently reported car theft as well. I'll radio the patrol teams and tell them to look out for a brown Audi with a scraped right side and a crooked windshield wiper. Are you sure we should be discussing details in front of the kid?"_

" _This kid's only ten. He can't understand any of this yet. In a few months, he probably won't even remember the incident. Do you have any information about their gambling habits?"_

" _Heard they were bankrupted by a mere kid."_

" _Oh not that kid again. Is it the one we've been getting reports on all month now?"_

" _Yeah, name's Imayoshi Shoichi. Only plays at the poker table. It's an all-ages casino and he isn't counting cards so we can't arrest him. We don't have any legitimate charges."_

" _Well that's a separate issue. Why don't I take this kid to the orphanage?"_

 _Oh, so no foster parents. It's almost better that way, since he won't have to deal with more pitiful looks from adults. All the other children in the orphanage will be like him. Someday, he will grow up and take revenge on the greedy owners of the casino. He will find them, and hunt them down. But more importantly, he will hunt don Imayoshi Shoichi._

 _The child who ripped his family apart. The one who robbed him of his happy beginning._

 _But when he grows up, he will write his own life. He will write himself a happy ending._

 _And all that begins with finding Imayoshi Shoichi._

Himuro opens his eyes again. Imayoshi Shoichi, a name that haunts him even in his dreams. He's been around to every casino in the vicinity, and no one knows or has even heard of anyone by that name. A crunching sound draws his attention downwards, and Himuro realizes that in his anger he's crushed the case (and probably body) of a CD.

He only minds because now he can't sell it. Well, vinyl records are better anyways. Stowing away the crushed disk in a desk drawer, he sighs. His fingers travel naturally upwards to his silver ring hanging around his neck. Maybe he should go find Kagami. Yes, perhaps talking to Kagami will make things clearer…

Yells outside his window drag him out of his thoughts and back into reality. Everyone is running. People pass by his shop in a flurry of pumping legs and dancing feet, almost shaking the ground with the force of their movement. He gets up and opens the door, sticking his head out to get a good view. From his position, he has a clear line of sight towards the town square. He barely stops himself from gasping out loud.

* * *

Kise gasps as he starts awake and finds himself lying on someone's couch. Sitting up, he winces in pain and tries to take in his surroundings. He can't help but wonder if he's been kidnapped. Except the living room he's in looks… _clean_ , and _cozy_. It can't possibly belong to a kidnapper. If it does, the owner must be the kindest, nicest kidnapper in the world because there's a glass of water and a bowl of strawberries next to him on the coffee table.

Wait. Strawberries. How does the kidnapper know his favorite fruit?

Kise frowns but brushes it off as a coincidence. He reaches over and pops three of the juicy red fruits into his mouth, thankful that whoever his kidnapper is has at least removed the annoyingly leafy tops.

He then reaches for the water, and grasps the cold glass, pausing before gratefully taking a few long gulps. As the cool liquid slides down his throat, he closes his eyes and revels in the fact that he's still alive. It takes a bit of time and a _lot_ of brain power to remember anything, but he's pretty sure he was beat up (especially if the bruises on his arm and the bandaged metal sling around his finger is anything to go by). He starts to stretch but stops once he feels a stab of pain in his midsection. He then notices the blanket draped around him.

Damn, are all kidnappers this nice? He wonders before taking a few more strawberries. And then he sees a suspicious looking, small purple jar lying open on the table. He looks down at the bowl of strawberries. There's a dripping trail on the floor. Oh no no no, he did not just eat poisoned fruit. Kise feels like vomiting, and retches a few times, trying to get the fruit to come up, but it's no use. His stomach is just too empty to give up any food.

And then he sees the glass he remembers drinking from a few seconds ago. On the opposite side of where he drank, Kise can see a clear purple stain. Oh god, the water is poisonous too. He tries to conjure it up from his throat but his body must be too dehydrated… He can barely produce any saliva never mind water.

Suddenly, he hears the front door opening, and he jumps to his feet, managing to stand for a grand 3 seconds before crumpling to the floor in pain.

And when his vision finally clears up, when he finally can focus without black spots clouding his eyesight… he wants to die.

It's Kasamatsu. As in, Kasamatsu Yukio. He has three grocery bags on one arm and two coffee cups, one in each hand. And he's also staring at Kise weirdly.

"K-K-K-" Kise can't get any words out for a second. Maybe more than a second.

Kasamatsu waits patiently for Kise to say something.

He tries again. "K-S-Sen- Ka-K-Kas-K-K-K-Y-K-Ka-"

And then apparently Kasamatsu gets tired of waiting because he rolls his eyes and moves towards the kitchen to put things down, commenting on his way there, "So you're up."

Finally, Kise manages to get a coherent word out. And it happens to be a name. "K-Kasamatsu?"

A head peeks back around the doorway, looking slightly irritated. "Yes? Glad to see you don't have any brain damage."

"W-what? Y-y-you kidnapped me?" Kise splutters, trying to pull himself up to look more presentable.

Kasamatsu exits the kitchen while wiping his hands on his jeans. "Are you alright? The hell are you going on about? I saved your ass, that's what I did."

Kise blinks. "But you fed me poisoned strawberries!"

Kasamatsu's clear ocean eyes stare at him confusedly. "Wait seriously are you alright?" He frowns before walking over, reaching out to check Kise's temperature.

Kise tries to scramble backwards. "You poisoned fruit for me!" He accuses, pointing a very accusing finger towards the purple glass bottle of liquid on the coffee table.

Kasamatsu blinks. "…What. In. The. Actual. Hell."

"Look, there's even a trail of evidence!" Kise wails, turning his body so Kasamatsu can see the trail of purple liquid around the strawberry bowl.

Kasamatsu doesn't respond. Kise then points to the purple lip stain on the rim of the glass. "And you put some in the water too!"

Kasamatsu blinks.

Kise remembers that his mother once told him if he counted to three and the other person didn't respond, then they were mad. Kise thinks he should begin counting.

One…

Kasamatsu's brows furrow.

Two…

His lips purse.

Three…

His eyes narrow.

Ok Kasamatsu is mad, Kise decides.

He's is about to say something when the older boy groans and smacks his forehead. "Are you shitting me right now?" He reaches across and grabs the bottle, capping it along the way. "This is _medicine_ , Kise. You had a fever. Look, it's called Tylenol." He turns the bottle and shows Kise the bold white print. "It's spelled T-Y-L-E-N-O-L. It makes fevers go away, so you can cool down." Kasamatsu speaks slowly as if explaining things to a child.

And still, it takes Kise a full 2 minutes to understand. "Hah? _Medicine_? But then.. then… then… why is it around the strawberry bowl?" he demands.

Kasamatsu sighs. "You kept thrashing and kicking, I think you were delirious. You moved around so much I had to pin you down so you would take medicine. It was pretty dark, so I guess I just didn't notice that any of it spilled."

Kise then holds up the glass of water. "What about this? How do you explain this?"

"…You rejected the medicine and wouldn't take it. I had to force water into your mouth to get you to swallow some of it."

Kise blinks. And finally, he deflates. "Oh."

"Did you honestly think _I_ would _kidnap_ you?" Kasamatsu mutters, looking slightly upset.

"W-well no. I mean… I guess I'm just confused. I don't really remember anything," Kise confesses, shrugging apologetically. "Sorry…"

Kasamatsu shrugs. "It's fine. But honestly, it's good that you're on guard. You shouldn't be hanging around in those types of places with those types of people. Why were you there anyways?"

Kise blinks, and some things come flooding back to him. The darkness, the grime on the person's shoe, the feeling of a dread as his fingers snap backwards. He shudders slightly. "I- I don't remember. Wait no." He thinks hard. He does remember. "They were taking drugs. I told them they should stop."

"You idiot," Kasamatsu growls. "Why would you do that? You practically _asked_ for trouble!"

Kise flinches slightly. "I- I was trying to.. to be a good person. I don't know. I just thought that they shouldn't waste their time-"

Kasamatsu interrupts him angrily, "Kise Ryouta. I have never met a larger idiot then you. That group that you pissed off is headed by Haizaki Shogo. It's best if you try _not_ to get involved with gangster-yakuza type people like him. You're practically asking to die."

Kise nods. "Thanks for saving me, senpai."

"…How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not your senpai anymore. We're not even in school right now."

Kise just grins. "But don't you feel proud that someone looks up to you enough to call you senpai?"

Kasamatsu scowls, but inwards he feels the scissors of relief cut his string of worry. He's glad that the blonde idiot is back to his normal cheery (but stupid) self.

* * *

Kuroko gasps when he reaches the town square.

It's the fountain.

Of course, the fountain really isn't much. It's merely a large heron carved from stone with water spouting out of the lips of a fish resting in the tall bird's open beak. But even so, it's considered the pride of the town.

And now it's... well, ruined. Technically some might consider it art. But Kuroko has a feeling that the gasps people are making aren't because they're so taken by beauty. In fact, he's pretty sure that even Takao would be horrified to see such "art".

The statue has been completely vandalized. Pink streaks cover the heron's outstretched right wing, and it's legs have been painted green. The red letter 'T' is big and bright, covering the bird's broad stomach. Everywhere else is masked in a flurry of random colour splotches and jagged lines of various widths. The only relatively untouched part of the statue is its base, where the "artist" has written a phrase that Kuroko can barely make out from where he is standing; Diese Stadt liegt im sterben.

"It's german for 'this town is dying'," a voice from behind him says. Turning around, he sees Midorima dressed in a suit.

"Why would anyone do this?" Kuroko demands, his eyes flashing.

Midorima doesn't answer, but Kuroko is pretty sure he has an idea from the way he pushes his glasses up his nose, causing them to glint as they catch the light.

Suddenly, to his left, he hears a voice announce loudy, "Look at this mess, it must be that black haired kid again."

"It must be that Takao child, he's always been a rotten one I tell you."

"Yes, you are quite right. It must be him. No one else can possibly produce anything as catastrophic as this… this.. _monstrosity_ in front of us."

Kuroko waits for other people to correct the group of old ladies, but to his shock, he hears silence. Spinning around in a circle, he's horrified as he realizes that everyone else seems to _agree_ with them. He wants to tell them it's absurd, that they can't possibly believe even for a second that Takao would do anything like this, but Midorima grips his shoulder.

It's a gesture meaning for him to remain silent.

Kuroko looks around for Aomine, hoping he is around somewhere (although knowing him, he won't have any interest in such irrelevant affairs). He doesn't see Aomine, but he manages to spot Himuro's head sticking out of his open shop door. "I'll be right back," he murmurs to Midorima, before darting quickly through the crowd.

Four minutes of shoving, pushing, getting pushed, and squirming later, Kuroko finds himself sitting in the backroom of Himuro's music shop.

"Ano… Himuro-san, are you friends with Aomine-kun?" Kuroko asks, trying to make conversation as the other boy prepares a few drinks.

"No. Acquaintances." His answer is short and sharp.

Kuroko sweatdrops at how antisocial the other boy is. "So… " He kind of wants to ask whether the other boy remembers him, but can't find a not awkward-silence-inducing way to do it, so he chooses to remain silent.

Finally, "Sugar?"

"Huh?"

Himuro rolls his eyes. "Do you want sugar with your tea?" he rephrases.

"Oh erm no thank you, just tea is fine," Kuroko responds.

"So the fountain got vandalized, huh?" Himuro mutters as he pours the steaming hot tea into two cups.

"Yeah, everyone thinks it's Takao-kun." Kuroko dips his head gratefully in thanks before blowing gently on his cup.

"It's expected. The bright colours, sharp lines, even the shape of the splotches. Anyone who doesn't know Takao well or isn't familiar with street art will naturally think it is Takao's work."

"Are you friends with Takao-kun?" Kuroko inquires politely.

Himuro settles into his seat across from Kuroko. "We are no more friends then you and Kise. We simply know of each other. And you can stop pondering over whether I remember you from photography class in high school because I do."

Kuroko blinks, half surprised, half thankful, and half- wait, no. That's three halves. Oh well, math has just never been his strong point. "What do you think will happen now?"

"Probably the police. They'll arrest Takao. Find some sort of charge. He'll face a trial. Probably be ruled guilty. He'll receive a penalty. That's it."

"But we know that Takao-kun isn't responsible, we can testify-"

"We have no evidence. Unless you were with him the entire time yesterday, or you have some sort of proof that he has an alibi, your word is useless." Himuro adjusts his earphones and he explains the unfortunate truth.

"… Then how can it be stopped?"

"Be stopped? You mean the prosecution or the charge? It can't. They'll probably give him a few days, maybe a week, to find a lawyer. He can also apply for a public defender, but they're not very skilled or very helpful."

Kuroko nods slowly as he processes the information. "I see. This… is a problem."

* * *

"Hello? This is the local police force."

The seven words echo in Takao's mind as he sits listlessly in the back of the clean black seat of a loud police car.

"Why did you do it?" A question jars his mind back to attention.

"Do what?"

"Don't play stupid. You know what I mean." The police woman who is driving him doesn't turn around, but Takao can tell she's frowning. Her voice is stern and condescending. It drives him nuts. She's the epitome of the adults that Takao hates.

"I didn't do it."

"Come on, honey. You're going to face a trial. We all know you did it anyways, might as well admit it."

"I'm not going to fess up to something I haven't done."

With that, Takao ends their brief and hostile conversation. He can't help but feel as if his life is falling apart- crumbling down around him like a weak building after an earthquake. For about a week, his life was nice. He remembers how he would wake up, grab some fruit for breakfast, and head over to Aomine's parlor to work on the mural. He remembers teasing Kuroko about their blooming relationship, and planning his surprise for Midorima.

And then, like snow in the heat of summer, all his happiness vanishes today morning. Technically, Takao muses, it started last night with his and Midorima's fight.

That makes him wonder what Midorima thinks of him now.

Not that it really matters.

And then his cellphone rings from up front (apparently cellphones have to be confiscated even though they aren't a weapon). The officer checks the caller ID before answering for him.

"Hello?"

Takao doesn't know exactly what conversations occur, but the next moment she is handing him the phone without taking her eyes off of the road. "It's your grandmother."

"Grandma? Hello?"

"Where are you?" His grandmother's cracked voice rings out and goes straight to his heart.

"I-I'm somewhere far away. I'm a bit.. a bit lost. I'll be home soon, grandma. Don't worry. Some of my friends will come and check on you in a bit, ok? Just stay in bed and don't open the door."

Before his grandmother can respond, Takao hangs up. "Can I call my friends?" He asks the officer.

She stiffens. "Why?"

"I need to tell them to check on my grandmother. There isn't any food in the house either, and she can't get out of bed. Please."

The officer frowns. "Hand me your phone."

He does.

"Who are you calling?"

"Check in the contacts for someone named-" Takao stops. He realizes that he was about to say Midorima. But…

"Named?" the officer presses impatiently.

"…Aomine Daiki."

She rings and says a few things before handing the phone back to Takao. This time it's a red light so she actually turns her head to give him a 'don't-try-anything' look.

"Aomine?"

"Takao. What the hell is going on? You've been arrested? What shit is this? Does Midorima know?"

"Aomine, I don't have a lot of time. Can you go check on my grandma and bring her food? There's a spare key under the third flower pot to the right of the door. And can you contact Kuroko? He knows Midorima, so he can tell him."

"Contact Tetsu? Alright sure. But wait-"

"No time to explain, go to the town square. You'll find out everything there."

"Alright."

That's what Takao likes about Aomine. Sometimes he just understands when not to ask questions. He knows exactly when to just _do it_.

He hangs up and hands the phone back to the officer. She glares again. Then the light is green and she has to drive.

The police station is a bit cleaner than Takao expects it to be, considering all the shady people who move in and out of it. There's a sign marked "Delinquents, criminals, suspects, and guilty", with an arrow pointing to a door on the right.

Criminal.

Takao knows that he's called many things around town, but _criminal_ is new to him. He is shoved into the room roughly.

"Please, take a seat." The man sitting at the desk is middle-aged. He dons a brown mustache.

Takao sits down. "Before you question me, sir, I would like to say that I haven't done anything. Whether or not you choose to believe that is out of my control. I'm simply letting you know."

The man scoffs. "That's what they all say."

Takao simply shrugs and nods. "I suppose it is."

"We have reasonable evidence to sentence you to at least 3 years in prison. Furthermore, you will have to pay for all the damage. This includes the costs of building a new fountain. You have a time period of six days to hire a lawyer, but you will remain in a cell for that time. Do you wish to adopt a public defender instead?"

"No." Takao grits his teeth. The prison, he can survive. But the costs. He doesn't have enough money to cover hospital fees for his grandmother, never mind an entire new fountain. His mother is working in another city far away on the other side of the country and this man wants him to pay for something he isn't even responsible for.

The injustice of it all makes a lump appear in Takao's throat. He wants to explode, to defend himself and protest against the unfair jurisdictions, but the guard standing in the corner is making him pretty uncomfortable. He decides to remain composed. "I don't want a lawyer, I can't afford it."

"Once again, a public defender-"

"No. I don't want a public defender." Takao knows how unhelpful public defenders are. He also knows that the local courts don't have any. If he claims he wants a public defender, they will request one from the Tokyo police, which means that the case will skyrocket in terms of fame. He needs to keep it small.

It's an explosion, but explosions aren't too deadly if they can be contained.

"Well then, why don't you think over your decision in jail? I'll have the guards escort you to your cell right now. Remember, you can plead either guilty or not guilty, but the evidence is enough to charge you." The man taps a button on the right wall and immediately three guards are at the door waiting.

Takao stands up and they surround him, ready to show him his.. well, home, for the next week.

Just as one of the guards raises his arm to unlock the cell door, Takao begins to move.

It's so slight that no one notices.

His fingers slide like lightening into the man's exposed pocket, and curl around a second set of identical keys, detaching and rolling the one he feels is the key being used to unlock his cell across his knuckles to slide it under his palm before he withdraws his hand silently, the maneuver completely unnoticed by the officers.

As his door is re-locked, Takao pretends to be sullen and sulking.

The police begin to leave. One of the officers glances back at him pityingly.

If only he knew.

* * *

 **A/N: Ah this chapter is so long, longest one yet even without the character biographies. It's 1:21 AM again, why do I always write chapters at such awkward times… But there's a street basketball court right outside of my complex so you can see it from my bedroom window, and there's this group of guys playing on it right now. True dedication. I can barely write fanfiction at 1 AM, how can they even move? :D**

 **Anyways, please submit any questions you have for the Q & A session coming up! You can submit as many as you want and they can be about anything in the world :) **

^I'm sorry, I normally despise using underlining for anything other than the chapter title, but I'm afraid some people might not catch that above note, so forgive me T-T

 **Ciao,**

 **~Vieux**


	6. Secret Ploys, Illegal Toys

**A/N: Hello guys back with chapter six! I think I mentioned this before, but I made a poll about what KnB pairing fanfiction you guys would like to see after I finish this story. You can find it on my profile. If you have extra time or feel like it, please go check it out so I can get a better idea of what you guys enjoy! Thanks :)**

 **On another note,** _ **I will be very busy during November, so yes, that means that I will try to finish this fanfiction before the end of this month**_ **.**

… **And there's still 30k more words to go. I normally write an average of 10k each week, so I think I can do it with some effort. Enjoy~**

* * *

Chapter 6: Secret Ploys, Illegal Toys

* * *

To: Kagami Taiga

From: Akashi Seijuurou

Subject: -

Hello Kagami-san,

Precious time is lost even as I type out this email. Are you willing to join the operation team in our projects or do you decline? I require an immediate response.

Best Regards,

Akashi Seijuuro

* * *

To: Akashi Seijuurou

From: Kagami Taiga

Subject: Re:-

Hey Akashi,

I just don't know if I _agree_ with what you're doing. In all honesty you and I both know this is just a plan for you to increase your influence. I still can't see how you plan to execute this idea of yours without anyone else finding out asides from your "trusted inner circle". Also, are your emails even encrypted?"

From,

Kagami

* * *

To: Kagami Taiga

From: Akashi Seijuuro

Subject: Your Call

Hello Kagami-san,

Firstly, please refrain from addressing me with vulgar, plebian phrases such as 'hey'. I also do not believe we are on familiar enough terms for you to drop the honourific when referring to me. That aside, I will once again state that this entire operation is for the greater good. Think about it. Remember Tetsuya and Kazunari. If we go through with this, there will never be people in similar situations as them ever again. We have no time to wait for your cooperation. I hope you understand Tetsuya's family condition, as well as Kazunari's recent misfortune. This is my final time asking you. Do you accept my offer? And yes, my email is plenty encrypted, thank you. I should hope yours is as well.

Best Regards,

Akashi Seijuuro

* * *

To: Akashi Seijuurou

From: Kagami Taiga

Subject: You are a manipulative bastard

* * *

From: Akashi Seijuurou

To: Kagami Taiga

Subject: -

Hello Kagami-san,

I believe your last message had no content. I certainly hope you mistyped your subject. Remember, I am absolute. I could take over the world, if I wished to.

Best Regards,

Akashi Seijuuro

* * *

From: Kagami Taiga

To: Akashi Seijuuro

Subject: -

I accept your offer.

* * *

 _Buzz. Buzz. Buzz._

Kuroko's phone vibrates in his right pocket. Loudly. Right in the middle of class.

He closes his eyes and prays that whoever it is will take a hint and stop calling. The professor completely ignores the disturbance, but a few people around him turn to stare disapprovingly.

After a few more vibrations, it's obvious that whoever it is just will not take no for an answer. He shyly exits the classroom, checking the caller ID on his way out.

 _Aomine Daiki_.

Of course. Kuroko makes a mental note to tell the older teen _not_ to call him again during class time. "Hello? Aomine-kun? Is there something you need, because-"

"Look I know you're in class, sorry for calling. Takao's in jail and I have too many customers to close the shop during lunch. Can you go check on his grandma? I know you have free period after lunch, so-"

"Yeah. Ok, no problem. Um, how do I-"

"Get in? There's a key under the third flower pot to the right of the door. Listen I gotta go, so-"

"Ok. Yeah."

After hanging up, Kuroko can't help but chuckle at how full of interruptions their conversation was. And then, he makes his way back into class, where the lecture about photo composition is still continuing.

Taking a seat, Kuroko prepares to continue taking notes, until the professor stands up, gesturing dramatically.

"Class, by the end of the first quarter I expect a well-done project. You must come up with a title that reflects the theme of your photos. I expect a series of 8 snapshots. Your prompt for this project is 'the phrase 'motto in life'. How you interpret this is entirely your choice, but the portfolio you turn in must also be accompanied with a maximum 700-word personal reflection and a minimum thousand world essay about your images. Include a paragraph of explanation along with each of your photos please. Are there any questions?"

There is a chorus of 'no's, as everyone begins packing up in preparation for lunch.

"Very well. Do not forget to come up with separate titles for each picture. Class dismissed."

With that, the professor exits the room, leaving everyone else to ponder over their ideas. Kuroko honestly has no clue what he's going to collect photos of, but he needs to worry about bringing lunch for Takao's grandmother first.

Slowly, Kuroko unlocks his second most prized possession (the first being his camera)- a bright orange and blue bike with white streaks (although those are recent additions, courtesy of Takao's artistic prowess). With

As he pedals off of the university campus, he heads up town towards a sandwich café. After buying a chicken avocado sandwich (hopefully Takao has inherited his odd taste buds from his grandmother), he also decides to get something for Aomine, just in case the parlor is still extremely busy. Parking his bike in front of Takao's house, which he manages to find no thanks to a very unhelpful GPS known as Aomine Daiki, Kuroko wonders if he should at least knock so that the old woman knows someone is coming.

For a very vivid moment, Kuroko imagines what might happen if he gives Takao's grandmother a heart attack.

But with a little bit more thought, he realizes that knocking may only stress the poor grandmother even more, as she cannot even open the door for him. Like Aomine says, he finds a rusty silver key under the third flower pot. Kuroko can't help but wonder who actually takes care of the flowers. It's obviously not Takao or his grandmother (although the idea of street artist Takao trying to take care of flowers does admittedly bring up a few laugh-worthy images), so who is it?

Kuroko pushes open the slightly battered and worn down wooden door, wincing when the unoiled joints screech rather loudly. He clears his throat, and calls out as loud as he dares, "Excuse me. I am Takao-kun's friend, I've brought you some lunch."

There isn't any answer, so he locks the door behind him and slowly moves deeper inside the house, shivering slightly as the floor creaks loudly beneath his light footsteps. He notices that there are very little pictures of their family. In fact, he hasn't seen a single picture of Takao's parents. All the shelves are coated in a thin layer of dust as well, indicating that either no one cleans them, or Takao hasn't been home for _quite_ a long while. Kuroko begins to wonder if Takao even goes home at all during the night.

The house in general is old. And dirty. And run down. Not to mention cluttered. Kuroko manages to step easily over three weird pieces of metal, four pipes, and 2 cardboard boxes before encountering a slight bit of trouble with half a table and a tipped over, raggedly torn couch. There are a few empty cans of spray paint strewn across the grimy yellow tiles and random scraps of crumbled paper litter what small counter tops the building has.

By the time he reaches the makeshift kitchen, Kuroko is almost positive that Takao never comes home. At least, not for the night. There is simply no way Kuroko could picture a neon-colour street artist working in this sort of environment. Picking his way through the remaining debris, he finally finds the bedroom.

Pushing open the door and preparing to enter, he breathes deeply. It takes a moment for his eyes to adjust to the ridiculously dark room, before he notices a frail, thin woman lying bundled up in the covers. "Um excuse me-"

But before he can even step a foot over the doorway, a hoarse voice interrupts him. "Don't come any closer. You may leave the food outside. Thank you, young man."

Kuroko blinks in surprise. "Um, I think it would be better if-"

"You left the food outside. Yes."

By now he's confused. Why doesn't Takao's grandmother want him to go inside? Well, it's not as if she can do anything to _stop_ him. Although, the logical and polite part of him _is_ telling him to obey the granny's wishes and just leave. Maybe she doesn't want to be bothered?

"How long are you going to stand there, young man? I told you to leave. I need to rest." The woman's voice sounds slightly more agitated and weak now, and Kuroko is alreadly becoming rather worried. What if her sickness is worsening?

"I won't disturb you. I just want to make sure you're all right." With that, he slowly steps into the room. "Why is it so dark?"

"No. Stop. Leave." The frail body spasms in a feeble attempt to ward him off physically.

"It's alright, I won't hurt you," Kuroko soothes.

"No, but _I_ can hurt _you_ , child."

Kuroko shrugs off her odd words. He reaches her bedside now, and slowly reaches to check her temperature. He isn't a doctor, but he knows enough from watching his grandmother when she was a healer to know that fevers are always a bad sign. His fingers reach for the blankets covering most of her face. Immediately, a bony hand slaps his wrist away.

He grabs the arm, also wanting to check her pulse. Cardiac arrest isn't something pleasant either.

But the moment he looks down, he jumps away in terror, falling straight on his back and feeling a shock of pain as his finger twists painfully at an awkward angle below him. "W-w-"

"See? Now you know."

* * *

Sitting in the cell, Takao wonders if he's going to waste away here for the rest of his life. Without any legal representation, he's almost positive that he'll be found guily. It's really only a matter of time. Except then he remembers that they don't actually allow prisoners to remain in the town. They always ship them off to a larger city, or a prison island. Takao knows he won't be able to last through a prison camp. He's only been _here_ a day and he's already starting to slip away from reality. It's even worse how he has no inmates to converse with. Not that he needs to hear psychopathic ideologies, or mental rantings, but some occasional human noise would be nice.

And then he remembers the keys. Right. The keys. The ones he stole. His fingers instinctively curl in protection around his left pocket. He wonders how much time he has left before they find out something is missing. And then he hears the ever familiar scraping, clinking sound that signifies lunch time. He accepts his plain lunch wordlessly, without much complaint. The water is at least decent. But then again, it's rather difficult to provide bad but drinkable water. The bread is totally another story. It's dry and plain and disgusting. The night before, Takao remembers complaining that they could at least provide some butter or jam. He can still feel the hot sting of the slaps he received for his "inappropriate comments".

After the guards leave, he decides to take action. From what he knows, they never patrol after lunch time because… well, it's not as if they _expect_ someone to get loose. He silently and swiftly unlocks his door, tipping it open gently. …And then he hears voices.

 _Crap._

He immediately pushes the door closed and re-locks the padlock, throwing himself onto the bed, conveniently covering the keys under his stomach.

The guard moves into view and glances at him suspiciously. Takao shrugs and acts casual, making sure to glance (more like glare) at the still-locked padlock. The guard gives him a curt nod before passing through. Takao can't help but wonder why he's heading towards the supervisor's office. It's the only room beyond the witness cells, after all.

He doesn't try to escape again until the clock strikes one in the afternoon. He knows the guards don't patrol around one because it's their lunch break (two officers were discussing lunch times yesterday as they passed by), so it should be safe to leave. Once again, he silently unlocks his cell door and sneaks out. The first thing he does is slink out the cell area and into the room where he previously saw the woman officer leave his phone. Once inside, he locks the door and opens the window, in case he needs an emergency exit. Grabbing his cellphone, he checks his battery. 2%. Brilliant.

Actually, Takao doesn't even know what he's trying to do. His fingers are just itching to call someone, to hear another person's voice. And it's only been a day.

Before he knows it, his fingers are instinctively dialing a number he's known for as long as he can remember.

* * *

Midorima tidies up the antique shop before he goes to lunch. He's almost certain that there isn't a single speck of dust or a strand of hair out of place. Suddenly, the phone rings.

"Hello, Midorima antiques speaking. How may I help you?"

"…"

"Hello?"

"…"

"Excuse me, but what do you need?" he demands, feeling slightly irritated. Of course, most of the people purchasing antiques are rich senior folk, so he understands that their reaction times may be just a _bit_ slow. But this person hasn't uttered a single word yet. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

This time, there's a weird choking noise on the other end of the line.

Midorima sighs. "Hello? Please respond if you need anything."

There's a noise that sounds oddly like… a sob?

Suddenly, the line goes dead. Midorima frowns. It's a real shame he can't see numbers or caller IDs on the landline. He wonders if the person on the phone is a friend of his, or the family.

* * *

Takao remains staring at his battery dead phone. Midorima's voice is so.. normal. Absolutely _normal_. It's infuriating and relieving at the same time. The raven head tries to swallow the hurricane of emotions brewing in his stomach. And then, he realizes that his mouth tastes salty and his cheeks are wet.

Tears.

It's been so long since he last cried. Lord.

Frantically, he rubs at his eyes with the sleeves of his hoodie, curling his fingers tightly around his cuffs. It's not fair.

It's just not fair.

* * *

Murasakibara stares into the mirror at his reflection. He glances down at the list from his mom for looking presentable in public. Clean T-shirt? Check. Shaved? Check. Neat hair? Check. Smile?

Ok, so maybe he needs a little bit (or a lot) of work in that department.

He hasn't done anything, but he feels so tired and absolutely _spent_ that he just can't bring himself to even crook the corners of his mouth up a mere degree. Taking a deep breath, he closes his eyes to think for a moment. He remembers everything from the day before after seeing Himuro in his shop.

 _He's running. Hard, and fast. He's almost never ever had to run before. His stride is long, and it almost always gets him where he needs to be quicker than others. But Himuro's been his first time for everything (relationships, crushes, even kisses), and this time is just no different. Running is foreign for his body, but he can understand why some people make a routine of it- it's ridiculously relaxing, almost mind-numbing at points._

 _And then his phone rings. Stopping, he pulls it out. Just as he's about to answer, he realizes that he's actually panting a bit. It's one of the first times he's ever been short of breath._

" _Hello?"_

" _Atsushi? Atsushi, where are you? You just left this morning without even giving me an explanation! Why aren't you back by now, it's already noon!"_

"… _Sorry."_

" _Sweetie, come home. We can talk."_

" _We already did."_

" _I know, but… honey I found something I think you should see."_

 _Sighing, he grudgingly agrees before hanging up. Of course his mother has to disrupt his peaceful running._

 _When he arrives home, he finds his mother sitting at the kitchen table and a 'closed' sign hanging in the bakery window. Odd. She gestures._

 _He sits down in front of her. She pushes forward a leather book. A… photo album?_

 _No._

 _It's a journal. He remembers it now, very clearly. It's a journal from when he was in middle school. He looks up in confusion._

" _I... I just think you should read it, Atsushi."_

 _He stares down at the page, scanning it's contents. Before he knows it, he's reading outloud._

" _December 3_ _rd_ _. Today a new boy transferred into our class. He's got really weird eyes and always walks around with bright red thingys. Apparently they're called headphones."_

 _He stops to flip the page, moving onto the next short entry._

" _December 4_ _th_ _. That weird boy I wrote about yesterday is called Himuro Tatsuya. He says that he's going to be a musician when he grows up. All the other boys said being a musician was lame, but he didn't even care. I think being a musician is cool but I didn't tell him."_

 _He stops. "Is there a point to this?" He asks, even though he already knows the answer. The lump forming in his throat really does prove his mother's insight quite well._

 _Murasakibara An sighs softly. "Atsushi, I just wanted you to know that even though you and Himuro may not be… 'right' for each other in that respect, you two are still friends. At least, I hope you'll still be friends. It's rare for relationships whether romantic or platonic to last over 6 years, and I think you'll regret it in the future if you let things end like this. Why don't you try talking to each other and having a real heart-to-heart?"_

When his memory reaches that far, Murasakibara sighs again. His mother needs to understand that having a 'heart-to-heart' doesn't mean dressing up. But secretly, maybe he does think her ideas are quite applicable.

He exits his room, and prepares to open the bakery door, before stopping. Should he bring.. a _gift_? He's never ever _ever_ brought a gift for Himuro. It's almost always the other day around. Himuro continuously insists he doesn't want anything on white day, even though he normally buys gifts on Valentine's day. With that thought in mind, Murasakibara grabs an entire bag of pastries. New ones, fresh out of the oven. He can always warm up the old ones from yesterday and finish them for dinner or snack.

He heads out, listening once again to the sweet chiming of the small silver bell dangling on the door. It sounds nicer today.

Moving quickly, he reaches the store in record time. And then he stops. Should he knock? Or should he just go in? No.. it's weird to knock on the door of a shop. Right?

He raises his hand to push the door open. Wait. But what if Himuro has customers? Better check. He moves around to the tall display windows and cranes his head, trying to get a good angle. He just can't find the same sport he was in yesterday.

He moves a bit to the right. No, a bit to the left. Backwards a bit… forwards a bit.. Tilt head a bit further up…

"Hey." A voice and a hand tapping on his shoulder makes him jump. Spinning around, he sees…

"M-Muro-chin." He quickly clears his throat. "I'm not here for anything. No no, I was just- just checking out… checking out this album." He quickly points to the nearest one. It features a partially nude woman. "Wait no this one. I mean that one. Wait actually the one over there."

Himuro raises a slender eyebrow. "Is that so? Perhaps you'd like to see a newer version of it inside?"

"…Yeah." He nods. "Yeah. I would. It's... great. Great band. I mean, great singer. Yeah. Inside," he mumbles.

Once inside, Himuro pulls out a few vinyl records before leading him to a customer service table. They sit down. "These are by the same artist. Are you interested?"

Murasakibara blinks. Does Himuro _actually_ think he wants to buy something? But before he knows it, he's nodding along quickly. "Yeah. Yeah, they're great. I'll take these." His hands automatically move to grab them.

There's an awkward silence.

Himuro shrugs. "There are a few signed shirts too. Limited edition. Would you like to-"

"Yeah."

He ends up taking three of the shirts too.

Another awkward silence.

"Erm.. would you like a basket?" Himuro mutters.

Murasakibara nods quickly. He dumps the records and the shirts into the purple-pink basket Himuro hands him. "Uh… Pink Floyd."

"Pink Floyd? Oh we have almost an entire six shelves filled with their stuff. Here, we're out of vinyls but we just got a few CD shipments."

He ends up getting the CD box set as well. The basket is starting to grow heavy.

"Uh.. a-anything else?" Himuro breathes.

Murasakibara doesn't say anything- he can't. He doesn't even know why he's taking so many things. Hell, he doesn't even know if he has enough money on him to pay for everything he's grabbed.

"Er.. check out, then?"

He nods mutely.

Himuro starts up the check register and begins trying to scan items, his movements awkward and jerky. "You're total is.. um…"

Murasakibara really can't understand what makes him do what he does. In fact, he's just going purely on instinct by now, not even processing his own actions. He shoves a bag of pastries into Himuro's hands. "…There were… some… extra."

"…"

"I didn't want to waste them. Thought I might as well give them to someone for lunch. No one else wanted them. Uh… yeah." He mumbles, jumbling a few of his words together.

Himuro just stares silently. They both open their mouths to say something, but neither of them actually vocalizes any thoughts.

And then, the twinkling of wind chimes startles them both. A customer. This has got to be the worst time. Feeling like it's awkward if he stays too long, Murasakibara quickly shoves another wad of cash onto the table. He steps backwards, stumbling slightly due to his large frame, and leaves in haste. Perhaps his leave was a bit… _too_ hasty, because he's already half way home when he realizes that he's left all of the stuff he purchased. It doesn't really matter because he doesn't even remember what he bought.

And great, now he's broke.

Although admittedly, being poor is the least of his worries.

* * *

"Shut up."

"But senpai-"

"No is no, Kise."

It's currently only noon, and Kasamatsu Yukio, age 20, already wants to die. On his tombstone, the cause of death is going to be clearly written as "a certain blonde idiot named Kise Ryouta". Even though he may _secretly_ be _kind of_ glad that the younger blonde is now awake, he definitely refuses to show it on the outside, continuously claiming that Kise should have just stayed asleep.

"But senpai, I'm bored and you won't let me go outside anywhere!" Kise whines, pouting adorably.

Wait no, not adorably. Kasamatsu shakes his head in frustration.

Definitely not adorable. Annoying. Bratty. Annoyingly Bratty. _Kind of adorable_.

He scowls. "Kise, we are not going outside and that is that. You still have a fever and it's cold."

"Awh senpai cares about me!" Kise beams.

"I don't," Kasamatsu snaps. "I don't care. I just don't want you to get into trouble with gangs again because I'll have to find you all over and save your sorry butt."

Immediately, he doesn't like the look in Kise's eyes. "Oh, but it'll be alright if senpai goes with me then right? I won't get into trouble if you're around. We can go get cake!"

God dammit, he should have seen that one coming from a mile away. He desperately racks his brain for any other good excuses, but can't find any other than 'no, because I said so'. "Fine. Just cake, and then we're coming back." He sighs. "I hope you know that you're paying."

"Of course!" Kise's next grin is blinding. Not as in the 'model-white-teeth' kind of blinding. More like the 'bright sunshine happiness' kind of blinding. Kasamatsu grabs his jacket, before turning to look at Kise. "You need to wear something else around your throat or your fever will go up. Here." He tosses a nearby scarf to Kise, who catches it despite his surprise.

And of course, Kasamatsu soon regrets it. It's weird how Kise can make him regret almost _everything_. It takes a full 5 minutes and 52 seconds to get the scarf on Kise properly. Between his desire for 'aesthetic appeal' and the necessary warmth to contain his fever, Kasamatsu is almost spent by the time Kise finally agrees to compromise and tie the scarf instead of just draping it.

"Wow! It's warm!" He declares, actually looking surprised.

"Of course, you idiot. Now hurry up."

As they walk down the street, Kasamatsu listens to Kise ramble happily, on and on, about his life. Or was it his friend's life? Or wait maybe his parents? Oh well.

"Kise, where is this cake store of yours? You better not be walking in circles-"

"Don't worry Kasamatsu-senpai. It's downtown, right next to the town fountain. The view is great!" Kise sings, practically glowing and dancing with happiness.

Until they arrive.

"Whoa... What... happened here?" Kise murmurs.

Kasamatsu stares. And then, when he sees the inscription at the base of the fountain, he freezes.

No way.

* * *

Aomine stretches his arms out as his last customer finally leaves. A quick glance at the clock reveals that it's already 1 PM, way past his scheduled lunch time. He grabs a beanie and his trench coat, planning to grab something to eat. He pulls out a new pair of lens-less glasses an puts them on. Just as he's about to grab the shop keys out of his desk drawer, the door flies open with a bang and a huge gust of wing swirls in, scattering a few stacks of papers on his desk. The door closes as the loose leaflets of sketches flutter and dance around in an aerial whirlpool.

"Tetsu? What are you doing here- whoa whoa whoa, are you ok?" He demands, grabbing the smaller boy's arm. His entire face is pale, his forehead dusted with a faint sheen of cold sweat. His fingers are shaking, and it's obvious that he has just seen something traumatizing.

Without responding orally, Kuroko stumbles forward towards the sofa area, his legs like jell-O.

"Its alright, here, sit down. Take it easy. I'll make you some tea," Aomine mutters in what he desperately hopes is a soothing manner. He pours hot water from his ever boiling kettle and grabs a packet of earl grey before heading back down the stairs to find Kuroko lying spread-eagled on the wide couch, staring emptily up at the ceiling. "Come on, Tetsu. Sit up, I brought you some tea. Just take a drink, and we can talk about everything later."

He helps Kuroko up and rubs his back soothingly, watching him take a few small sips of the warm beverage. "Is everything alright?"

The boy immediately begins shaking again.

"Whoa. Relax. Listen, we don't have to talk about it right away. Do you feel cold? Are you sick?"

At the word sick, the bluenette's entire body stiffens. Aomine rubs his shoulders and spine bone slowly, trying to encourage him to speak. He pulls the smaller boy forward into a warm hug, patting the back of his head while ruffling his hair softly. With Kuroko's face buried into his shoulder, Aomine starts to rack his mind for something, anything that could have made the boy this rattled. Did he see someone die?

Finally, Kuroko moves away a bit and looks up, ready to speak. "I-I… I-I…"

Aomine nods encouragingly. "Yes? It's alright, I'm listening. Take your time." It's weird, because he feels surprisingly patient at the moment. His usual impatient nature seems to dissipate around Kuroko.

Kuroko makes a sharp intake of break. "I-I w-went to drop Takao's food off."

Aomine frowns. "Yeah I know. So?"

"I- H-he- S-she w-was… Aomine-kun, Takao is keeping a very big secret."

Aomine raises his eyebrows in a silent message for him to continue.

Kuroko's eyes close. He can still picture the exact image- the purple spots and the bruising. He shudders, but feels Aomine's warm arm wrap around his waist. He breathes again.

"T-Takao..."

Aomine waits.

And waits.

And waits.

Finally, Kuroko looks up, eyes wide.

...

"Takao's grandmother has the plague."

* * *

 **A/N: It's over. I'm sorry to end on a cliffhanger, I normally don't, but it's 1 AM and I have school tomorrow. If I start explaining, it'll be at least another 2k words :D I am in no way advocating for less sleep or sleeping later. It just… happens, guys. It just happens.**

 **I also posted a priority list on my profile; it's basically a list with all my story statuses (like which ones will be finished first, how many more chapters there are for each story, how many more words, my interest level, etc.). If you are confused about my updating schedule, I suggest you visit it :) Anyways, good night/day everyone!**

 **Yes, this chapter may have been a bit confusing because of all the different perspectives and actions going on at once, not to mention the flashback. If any of you are confused about it, please let me know, since I can always rewrite it later I guess :3**

 **Ja ne,**

 **~Vieux**


	7. Objections

**A/N: Hi everyone, back with a new chapter. So I guess I totally lied when I said I wanted to finish this before November -.-Sorry for not updating, I don't even have an excuse. Life happened .**

 **Yes, there will finally be development on the AoKuro relationship. I feel like the speed of their relationship should be well balanced because while they're both rather blunt, it really just isn't** _ **remotely**_ **realistic for them to suddenly just start dating.**

* * *

Chapter 7: The Plague

"Takao's grandmother has the plague."

Aomine blinks. And blinks. "What the hell are you on, Tetsu?" He pushes a hand firmly but gently up Kuroko's hair, feeling his forehead. He's leaning forward to examine the eyes when Kuroko grabs him testily.

"I'm not on drugs, Aomine-kun. Takao's grandmother… she's very ill."

Aomine sighs. "Look, I wanna believe you, but… heck, this shouldn't be possible. The plague is gone; it doesn't exist anymore. She's probably got something else. You sure it wasn't Pneumonia? The symptoms aren't _that_ different."

"…They're not that _similar_ either."

"Tetsu, the schools don't teach about the plague; they aren't allowed to. So wherever you heard of what the… symptoms are, it's probably just a joke. I've asked teachers before, and they all say the same thing- that the plague is a dark period of time in our history that we don't wanna revisit."

Kuroko frowns, leaning away slightly to rest against the cushions. "Aomine-kun, I watched my mother die. I watched her from the moment of her realization, to the moment she gave in. I watched my father bring her water. I watched her get quarantined. Of all people, I would recognize the symptoms."

Aomine seems to contemplate what Kuroko is saying. When he speaks, his tone seems to be oddly measured and gentle. "Look, I'm not saying that you're lying. Definitely not, I trust your judgement. But… it just doesn't make logical sense. The plague ended a decade ago, and it's not coming back. One person doesn't just suddenly develop a disease like the plague in the middle of the streets without any reason."

"But- "

Aomine holds up a hand, gesturing for Kuroko to wait. "Your mother died in the outburst. But that was more than ten years ago, so maybe your mind is hazy on it. Why don't you drink some more tea, and we'll go out to clear your head? You need some fresh air."

"…Are you telling me that my memory is incompetent?" Kuroko's defensive tone makes Aomine grimace.

"Of course not. Listen, finish your tea. We'll talk. I can talk to Takao too, so we can find out exactly what she has."

"…Alright." Kuroko grudgingly sips his tea and relaxes again, fingers curling reflexively around the warm mug.

As he watches Kuroko sip the warm beverage, Aomine rests his head on the thumbs of his clasped hands, thinking carefully. There isn't any logical reason for Takao's grandmother to have the plague. In fact, it's almost impossible. And yet, in the (albeit short) time he's known Kuroko, Aomine is pretty sure that the light teal-headed boy has never been wrong. And if Takao's grandmother does have the plague… does Takao know?

A movement in his peripheral vision jolts Aomine back to the present. Kuroko is finished with his beverage. Moving, Aomine reaches to take the cup. "I'll go wash this."

"No it's fine, I'll do it," Kuroko insists, pulling his arm back and away from Aomine.

"I got it, Tetsu. You're still a bit traumatized, I'll- "

"I'm not going to _break_ your cup, Aomine-kun," Kuroko sighs exasperatedly.

"That's not why I'm worried."

There's an awkward silence after that line, until Kuroko simply smiles it off and reassures him that everything will be fine. Still, he follows the pale boy upstairs, making sure that he doesn't fall or collapse (not that Aomine finds it likely, since Kuroko isn't by any means _weak_ ).

After everything is cleaned and sorted out, Kuroko turns to him. "Did you have plans for our afternoon, Aomine-kun?"

Aomine grins. "Yeah, I want to take you somewhere. Ready to go?"

Kuroko nods, straightening slightly in his clean white shirt and skinny jeans. "Alright, let's go."

Aomine holds out his arm in a 'wait' gesture. Kuroko looks up in surprise. Aomine smirks, before pulling the other boy to his room, where he pulls out a blue-black checkered flannel. "You'll be cold, so put this on."

Kuroko blinks, before smiling ever so slightly. "Is Aomine-kun concerned about my health?"

Aomine scowls. "Of course not, it just… happens that this size doesn't fit me anymore."

"Why doesn't Aomine-kun return it?"

"I… I bought it a long time ago, but... I grew."

"Ah, so Aomine-kun is giving me old clothes… Trying to dress me in his hand-me-down rags…" Kuroko sighs melodramatically, his voice containing a very slight teasing lilt to it.

"W-wait, no! That's not what I meant," Aomine growls, looking frustrated. "Look, it doesn't fit me anymore since it's too small- just put it on so you don't get cold!"

Kuroko pulls on the warm, soft flannel before realizing that it's definitely too big. "Um…" Aomine reaches over and gently rolls up the sleeves for him, making them fall ¾ of the way down his arm.

It's comfortable. Kuroko doesn't bother buttoning up- it's not cold enough anyways.

They head out, but not before Kuroko has a chance to offer Aomine the lunch that he's brought. "I mean, I thought you might be hungry."

"Alright, I'll bring it with me."

They leave the tattoo parlor around two in the afternoon (apparently, despite Kuroko's earnest protests and harshest scolding, Aomine still wants to take the rest of the day off). On their way to wherever Aomine wants them to go, they converse lightly, often pausing to listen to the sounds of their shoes crunching dried leaves.

"So how was class?"

Aomine probably doesn't really care, and Kuroko knows it, but he answers anyways just to humor him- "It was alright. The professor said that we have to have a theme for our project, which is due before the end of the semester."

"Really? So what's the project about?"

"Taking a few pictures, nothing much."

"Do you have any ideas so far?"

"Well not really, but I'll find something eventually." Kuroko looks up at the red and orange leaves floating down around them. "It's such a nice day today."

Aomine just grins, and grabs his hand, pulling him along faster, moving into a run. "It's just ahead, come on."

They're both slightly breathless by the time they reach Aomine's final destination- a park.

"A park?" Kuroko raises his eyebrows skeptically.

"It's amazing." Aomine turns around. "Race you to the swings."

"No fair, you know you're going to win," Kuroko complains, but he runs anyways. He doesn't know why he does, but maybe it's because of the childish look of pure _fun_ that Aomine is wearing- a look Kuroko has honestly never seen before.

Of course, in the end, Aomine wins. Just as expected. By a long shot.

"See, you won by so much. Did you really have to ask me to race with you?" Kuroko mutters.

"It's not as fun if there's no one to beat," Aomine complains. Kuroko sighs.

They both swing for awhile, not too high or too low, discussing happy things. They mention positive things, such as how high Kuroko's GPA is (although Aomine jokes that it's going to fall, because everything _falls_ in the season of _fall_ \- he gets jabbed in the ribs for his terrible pun). They briefly talk about Aomine's tattoo parlor, but then their conversation touches a bit too close to home when they both remember Kagami and his untimely departure to Tokyo. And thinking more about Tokyo only brings shadows because Kuroko's grandmother is probably going to Tokyo too.

They both realize the domino effect that may eventually take place, which leads Aomine to strategically (although not so subtlely) change the topic to something else.

And then Aomine gets off the swings and declares that he's just going to push Kuroko instead.

Kuroko protests, claiming it should be the other way around. Of course, he also wants to mention that Aomine should avoid pushing him _too_ high. Although, really, his worries may not even have any effect on someone like Aomine, so Kuroko decides to just save his breath.

Soon, he feels like he's flying- the wind hits his face and flies through his hair, swirling around him in a taste of Autumn. The metal swing chains grow warm under his firm grip, and when he looks down, everything is covered in rolling hills of red, orange, and gold. And of course, when he turns around, he sees Aomine standing there in his gray-blue scarf and red-black flannel, black skinny jeans tucked into leather combat boots, right in the middle of everything.

Aomine blinks in shock because he could have sworn that he'd just seen something no short of a miracle- a full-fledged smile appearing on Kuroko's face. Aomine finds himself thinking that it's brighter than the sun; that it makes the blunette look as if he has a halo floating right above his head.

And then he realizes that if he's going to get blown away since Kuroko is swinging back full force. Aomine steps aside and leans against the rusty red pole, smiling. "Told you it would be fun."

Kuroko smiles again, and Aomine's mind is screaming at his lips to _just move_ so he can _smile back_ (although he has a feeling that if Kuroko keeps catching him off guard, he's going to be taking a trip to the hospital under the guise of cardiac arrest soon).

Soon, they're both a bit tired, and end up resting together on an old wooden bench that Aomine swears has been there since the fifteenth century.

"Aomine-kun, it is scientifically and historically impossible for this bench to have existed before even the 18th century because-"

"Shhh, hush child, just shut up Tetsu," he whispers mockingly, placing a finger on Kuroko's lips. "No need to embarrass me with your knowledge, please…"

He speaks so melodramatically, or like he would to a child- that thought alone makes the laughter inside Kuroko bubble up, threatening to burst and tear out of his throat like a hungry animal. He struggles to contain it, but a few giggles slip out and really it's just a chain reaction. His laughter gets harder and harder to control, and god Aomine is starting to smile too now, lips curving upwards in the same childish lilt as before- and then they're both laughing, ridiculously, in the middle of the abandoned park.

Suddenly, Aomine stops. Kuroko looks up. "…Aomine-kun, is something-"

"I just realized that I've never heard you laugh before."

"I'm sure you have," Kuroko argues.

"Well not _laugh_ laugh, only chuckle softly to yourself."

"Chuckling is laughing."

"But it's different."

They both stare at each other before the fit of giggles start again.

A cold breeze begins to blow, swirling the leaves on the ground, stirring them up as if trying to create a small collection. Instinctively, Kuroko pulls Aomine's flannel a little tighter around him, rolling the sleeves down so that they fall just above his palms. Aomine's arm reaches out and pulls him in, muttering, "You cold?"

Kuroko shrugs slightly. "A bit, not everyone can be a walking furnace like you."

Aomine grins, and they stay like that for a bit. Kuroko really isn't sure if this is what Aomine does with all his friends, but he's really warm, so there isn't any point in arguing with it.

Then they notice a mother with her two children, both girls. They're pulling a dog along with them. Kuroko immediately perks up and nudges Aomine, eyes glinting slightly.

Aomine sighs. "Fine, let's go…"

Kuroko jumps up and begins walking over when Aomine's phone rings. Aomine frowns. "Hey, you go first. I'll take this call and then join you."

Kuroko nods hesitantly, before turning to continue.

Aomine sighs. "Hey Kagami, what's up man? Couldn't have thought of a better time to call or anything? You know, like right when you arrived at Tokyo? Or… when I'm _not_ in the middle of having fun?"

"Chill dude. Listen, I've been pretty busy so I haven't had time to call anyone. Is Kuroko with you?"

Aomine looks up. "Yeah, you want me to go grab him?"

"Can he hear you right now?"

Aomine frowns at this. "Uh… no? We're in a park, he's having fun with a dog."

"Alright cool."

"Hey, what's up? You sound really weird," Aomine mutters.

"No no, everything's fine. It's just… well, I'm working on something pretty big at the moment. And… well, this… this guy is taking a trip back to town, so I want you to keep an eye on Kuroko for me."

"…This guy?" Aomine echoes, raising his eyebrows. "Sorry buddy, but you need to be a bit more specific or I won't be able to help you."

"Akashi Seijuurou."

Aomine yawns. "Who's that?"

Kagami sighs again. "Aomine, this is serious ok? He's the current heir to one of the largest corporations in the world."

Immediately Aomine wrinkles his nose and grimaces. "Ok so…? What does this have to do with Tetsu?"

"Akashi is… pretty intense. He calls himself absolute, and he can do pretty much about anything. He's _smart_ too."

"So?"

"Well… uh…."

Aomine can just picture Kagami's entire face going red as he shifts his feet and shuffles around, trying to approach the topic right. "Come on, stop shuffling your feet and spit it out!"

"Okay ok-wait how did you know I was shuffling my feet?"

"I just did. Come on," Aomine says impatiently, looking back at Kuroko who's now crouching down to get on an even level with both of the girls. He's smiling and reaching out to stroke the puppy.

"Ok ok geez. It's just that…uh…I'm gonna be straight with you… You _like_ Kuroko right?"

"…Yeah?" Aomine isn't sure what he's leading to.

"No, like.. _like_ like. You have a.. ahem… _crush_ on him. Right?"

"... Why would you think that?"

"Come on, Ahomine, it's so obvious."

"What?"

"You stick around him 24/7, you have a _nickname_ for him, and you guys haven't had lunch apart since the day you guys met. It's totally, absolutely, completely crystal clear."

"…"

"See? You're not denying it," Kagami yells.

Aomine winces, pulling the phone away from his ear. "Don't yell, Bakagami!"

"Sorry, sorry."

"So what does my _potentially_ liking Tetsu have anything to do with this corporation dude?" he demands.

"Ok well you probably don't know this, but Akashi used to have a… _thing_ with Kuroko."

"A _thing_?" Aomine repeats skeptically.

"Yeah. A _thing_ as in… a sort of fling."

You're kidding right? Based on how you described him, he doesn't sound like the type of guy Tetsu would be into."

"Well I mean their thing was pretty one-sided, I guess. Kuroko probably just considers him a good friend. I don't know, I'm just warning you. I don't know if he's coming back to get him, or anything, but you should be careful. He's pure evil to the guys who stand in his way."

Aomine sighs melodramatically again. "Once again, corporatism is coming in to ruin my life."

"Shut up you moron. I'm just telling you what _might_ happen. Consider yourself warned."

"Got it. Anything else?"

"…"

"So nothing else then. By the way, did you hear about how Takao got arrested?"

"Wait what?"

"Someone framed him for something."

"Of _course_ , so _that's_ the misfortune he was talking about…" Kagami mumbles to himself.

"Who was talking about?"

"No one. I gotta go Ahomine, but give Takao my best wishes if you ever see him again."

"Alright. Bye."

After hanging up, Aomine's eyebrows furrow suspiciously as he flips his phone over a few times in his large hands. Kagami is definitely acting weird about everything, and who the hell does this Akashi guy think he is?

 _Well he might not be coming back because he's interested in Tetsu… He might just be… paying a visit…?_

Standing up, Aomine decides to ask Kuroko about it later. He walks over and watches the smaller boy stroke the dog's ears, smiling. Aomine bends down. "Hey Tetsu, how's it going?"

The two smaller girls squeal at the prospect of having another "new friend", and whine until Kuroko agrees to introduce him. "This is Aomine Daiki, one of my friends."

That line of introduction is weirdly painful for some reason. But Aomine still smiles and gives the children a friendly nod.

While Kuroko is keeping everyone else entertained, Aomine is lost in thought- he can't let go of what Kagami said. "Oi Tetsu… you done here? We might wanna start heading back."

Immediately, Kuroko nods and stands up before bidding the girls farewell. As they walk out along the concrete path, Kuroko notices that Aomine seems distracted by something. But then again, is it really his business to ask? "Aomine-kun, is something wrong?"

Aomine jumps. "Huh? Wrong? Nah. All good. Great. Never been better."

So, in Aomine language, that translates to 'something is wrong but I'd rather not tell you'.

Kuroko merely nods- he trusts Aomine enough to know that if something is really bothering him, he'll tell someone. "So, …we're heading back to the parlor, right?"

This brings a grin to Aomine's face. "Nope. We're not done yet."

Kuroko furrows his brows, confused. "What?"

Aomine turns around. "We're going to visit Takao."

* * *

Takao rolls over in the mangled pile of… was it… hay? He stretches. Somehow, calling Midorima yesterday really helped him. Takao sits up and decides that this is his new reality. Might as well get used to the prison life. The gate opens.

"Hey kid, we've officially set your trial date. It's tomorrow."

Takao frowns. "Wait, I thought you said I had a week. Why did it get moved up?"

The officer stops for a second, pausing before his response. "To be honest, it's because the train for the air field where we ship prisoners off only comes once a month and it would be a waste of time if we were to miss it. Boss says there's no point keeping you around for a whole extra month."

Oh, of _course_. _That_ was why.

"Oh alright. Thanks for letting me know." Takao doesn't see any reason not to be relatively courteous to the guard. He is giving him information, after all.

"… You know, kid, you don't have to do this."

"Do what?"

"Do… do any of this. You could just plead guilty, we'll get the trial over with quickly, close the case, and then everything will settle down. You'll fork out the money to pay for your damage, and we'll keep the case low profile. There's no reason you-"

"No."

"Pardon me?"

"No. You're wrong. I can't. If I just let you guys do everything, I would be an idiot." Takao is seething with anger. How can this man not see it? "The so-called 'justice system' in this town, in this _prefecture_ , is just another one of your ploys to brainwash the population while getting money. It's disgusting. You convict lower income people before even analyzing the evidence."

"…" The man is too shocked to speak.

"In fact, I hate you." There it is, the finishing blow. Takao's panting slightly by now, because giving a hate speech when on nothing but moldy bread and stale water is quite energy-consuming.

"Well, I am very sorry you feel that way." With that, the guard turns and leaves.

The door doesn't open again until around noon, when his lunch is brought to him. It's a new guard this time.

"Thanks." Takao reaches for the bread half-heartedly, turning it around in his palms.

"You have visitors."

At that, he sits up stick straight and stares. _Visitors?_ He doesn't want to hope it's someone important to him, but somewhere inside he does. "Alright. Ok. So… do I…?" Takao isn't sure how getting visitors in prison works. According to his random knowledge from sneaking glimpses at Midorima's criminology books borrowed from the library, most stations or prisons have a separate area for visitations. He vaguely remembers seeing an image in the book where there is a telephone connection between the two who are separated by a thick layer of bulletproof glass. That allows them to speak, but not exchange any potentially hazardous items.

Except given the ridiculously small population of their town, Takao doubts that they will actually bother with such formalities and procedural accuracies.

"So… do I go somewhere, or…?"

" _You_ stay in here. I'll bring them to you." The officer looks kind of mad at having extra work. Oh well.

* * *

And then in through the door walks… "Aomine? Kuroko? What are you guys _doing_ here?"

Kuroko smiles slightly. "Visiting you."

"You guys are visiting _me_?" Takao blinks once again in disbelief.

Aomine snorts. "So sorry, but do you see anyone else who needs to be visited around here? It's not as if I'm friends with that rotten stick over there. Of _course_ it's to visit you, dumbass."

Kuroko elbows him for his ineloquent use of language.

Takao feels his eyes tear up slightly. "F-friends? Did Ao-chan just call me his friend? And Tetsu-chan too! I'm so touched!" He fake sobs.

Aomine scoffs. "What are you talking about? We're not friends."

At the same time, Kuroko says, "We brought you some food."

They can all feel the guards critical gaze as Aomine pulls out a chicken-avocado sandwich wrapped in white paper. As he makes the motion to pass it through the bars, the man stands up. "I'm sorry, but no _gifts_ are allowed. I'll just take this-"

As he reaches for the sandwich, Aomine snatches his hand back and _glares_. "Excuse me? Absolutely not. Are you starving your prisoners? He looks like he hasn't eaten in days. Are you taking their food away from them?"

The guy scowls. "Of course not, but that sandwich needs to be checked."

"Right, of course. It needs to be checked. Just a warning, I hid some TNT in there."

The guy's jaw drops.

Aomine smirks. "Just kidding. No dynamite or other explosives. No live things either. Unless you count the chicken, I don't know how well-cooked it is."

The man immediately glares. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind when I search it," he manages to get out through gritted teeth.

Kuroko nods and makes a motion to turn back to Takao, but Aomine stops him by sticking out a long arm. "Wait. You check that here and now."

"What did you say?" The guard is growling now.

"This is a very sacred sandwich. Courtesy of a very specific sandwich shop. Would be a _real_ shame if my friend here actually never got to taste it because you found it 'unsatisfactory' regarding security standards. Why don't you just examine it here and if you find anything, we can fix it?"

"I'll do it in our official testing room-"

"No, do it here."

A mini-stare-off ensues, with both Aomine and the guard refusing to back down.

Finally, the man scowls. "Fine." He clumsily unwraps the paper wrapper and languidly turns the sandwich over, seeming bored. It's amusing how obvious it is that the guard really did not have any intentions to "search and return" the food. "Alright, looks safe," he mumbles half heartedly before handing the sandwich back to Aomine, who in turn smirks before passing it through the rusty iron bars to Takao.

"Eat up, Bakao."

Takao grins and promptly devours the sandwich, as if he hasn't had any real food in days. Although, given the attitude of the guards, Kuroko suspects that Takao really _hasn't_ been treated too humanely.

Aomine leans closer to the bars, although he's careful to keep his hands off. "You didn't do it. I know you didn't. Why are you taking this shit from them? Come on, do something! Man up!"

Kuroko nudges him gently, to remind him that while the situation is unfair, they are still in public and under watch.

Takao lowers his head slightly, and his eyes are hooded. "I know. I know. I know."

"Then do something!" Aomine yells, looking upset.

"I can't! Look, I have a family. My mother isn't here, she's away in some big city working her butt off to let us keep the house. If word gets out about this, what do you think would happen to her? Either she would drop everything and come back, or she would be shunned by everyone in her workplace who knows about me. Look- explosions aren't deadly for everyone as long as they're contained. I'll get through it somehow. Aomine, make sure you feed my grandma."

Immediately both Aomine and Kuroko stiffens, because Takao has finally touched upon the second reason for their visit. Kuroko steps forward. "Um… Takao-kun-"

"Just Takao is fine."

"Alright. I… I bought your grandmother lunch today…"

Immediately Takao's entire body stiffens, from his toes up to his neck. And that is when Kuroko knows that there is definitely something _very_ wrong. But they can't talk about it here- not with the guard hanging on to every word.

Aomine seems to realize the same issue. He puts a hand on Kuroko's arm, gesturing faintly with his head. "I needa use the bathroom, Tetsu. Can you come with me?"

Kuroko is confused, but he puts his trust into Aomine and acts along. "Bathroom? Oh alright… but I'm not done talking to Takao-kun!"

Aomine can't help but grin inside his head- who knew that Kuroko could put up such an innocent act? "Well, we can come back afterwards, but right now I really need to piss." He looks towards the guard, who seems even more upset at the prospect of them returning. "Hey, can you take us to the bathroom?"

The guard rolls his eyes and scowls before grudgingly straightening his back, beckoning for them to exit through the back door. They enter the bathroom, and as Aomine is opening the door, Kuroko uses his misdirection to slip out of the guard's view. Aomine grins and casually closes the door like it's nothing. Mission accomplished.

Knowing he has to act quickly, Kuroko lightly jogs back to Takao's cell, trying not to make any noise. "Takao."

"...You brought my grandmother food. Thanks."

"…Takao, she…"

"So you know. Right? Right? You saw it."

"…Yes. I did see it."

The raven head puts his face miserably into his hands. "That's why I wanted Aomine to go. He wouldn't have insisted on going inside, he's not that nice. And plus, even if he saw her, he wouldn't have realized. The plague isn't studied during school, you know."

"Yes. I know."

"But you, of course you would know. I should have realized. Your parents died of the plague, didn't they? You watched them, didn't you? You remember it, _don't you_?" His words are slurring together as they fall out faster and faster, their owner in an almost delirious state.

"Takao… I know. I know," Kuroko breathes softly. "I know."

"So what are you going to do now?" He seems to have calmed down a bit. "Call the hospital? Report it?"

Kuroko ponders over this question, turning it around a few times in his mind. Reporting it is definitely not an option. But, if they don't report it… "Takao, the plague kills quickly. It's normally anywhere from 72 hours to two weeks, and I'm guessing your grandmother has had it for quite a while."

"I don't know. She suddenly came home one day and she had them- the symptoms. I told her to go to the hospital, but you probably know my gran by now… she just refused. And it's been like that ever since, for three years. That's why she can never leave the house."

Kuroko's brows furrow. This is weird. Takao's grandmother is "sick", but she's not dying. She's holding on. And no one holds on against the plague. And then he remembers that they might be running out of time. Aomine is still waiting in the bathroom. "Alright, we can worry about that later, after you get out of here."

"…After I get shipped off to some prison island in the middle of nowhere?"

"No, after you get to go home. We'll clear your name. I promise."

"How are you going to do that? You do realize that I have no influence, no money, and no legal representation. That pretty much is a guaranteed loss in court."

Hm. "We can't fix the no influence and no money part, apologies Takao, but… the no legal representation… I'll see what can be done about that." Kuroko looks determined, his eyes bright in the darkness.

And Takao is trying not to be sucked in to the light of hope that is shining in his face, because hope only leads to eventual despair.

"Now, I have to go, Aomine is still holding off the guard. We'll talk to you later."

With that, Kuroko sprints back as quickly as possible, ignoring the rather loud noise his footsteps are making until he nears the bathroom. Quietly, he stills his breathing. Taking a deep breath in, he kicks a bar along the wall, making it rattle and shake loudly. Immediately he can hear the guard's footsteps, so he hides himself around the corner- out of sight, out of mind.

The moment the guard bursts into view and walks past him, Kuroko lightly makes his way to the bathroom and slides through the door, panting as it closes behind him. A warm hand on his shoulder makes him look up.

"Hey, nice job. How'd it go?"

"I'll tell you later when we get back. We have a few things we need to do."

"Alright." Aomine nods before tipping his head up, opening the door, and raising his voice: "Oi, officer, we're done, where are you?"

The guard comes back into view from around the corner grumbling to himself. "Coming, don't yell. Are you guys going back?"

"Nah, it's fine, tell our friend that we just went home," Aomine suggests grinning cockily.

The guard scowls at the fact that he could have taken them to the other bathroom and not watched them if they had just made that decision in the first place. "Alright then. Let's go."

Once they enter Aomine's tattoo parlor again, they sit down and Kuroko pulls out a piece of white printer paper. "We need to help Takao, and for that, we need a plan."

"No duh."

Kuroko jabs Aomine for that comment. "Alright, so based on what Takao said, his problem is three-pronged; he has no influence, no money, and no legal representation. Like I said, we can't do anything about the first two, but we can fix the second one."

"Get a legal representation? I certainly hope you qualify for a bank loan because I don't have that money," Aomine mutters, scratching his head.

"Well, unfortunately, I do not qualify. However." Kuroko holds up a finger when Aomine looks like he's about to interject. "We will find a legal representation that does it for free. And that will be-"

"A public defendant?"

"No, I didn't finish-"

"Oh, blackmail then?"

"No, that's not it-"

"Oh I see, we're resorting to force."

"No!" Kuroko bursts out slightly exasperatedly. "Aomine, please let me finish."

"Alright, alright, what were you going to say?"

Kuroko takes a deep breath. "Ok, so here's our plan…"

* * *

-Time Skip to Trial Day-

"Alright, thank you ladies and gentlemen for being here to witness the trial of Takao Kazunari, who is being charged with vandalism. The jury and the judge will review the evidence provided, and make their decisions based solely upon fact. The case is now active!"

A person sitting in the back row sighs at how informal the court trial is.

"In first order, a brief overview of the current situation. Takao Kazunari is accused of vandalizing the town statue, a precious and sacred sculpture that illustrates the great history of our community!"

The aforementioned person sighs again, shifting.

"We will now proceed with an introduction of both sides. First, we have… everyone else in the town! Although officially, this charge is coming from the town government and the prosecutor's office, it appears to have the full support of all other citizens!"

More sighing. This is definitely not how a case is supposed to go.

"And on the other side, we have delinquent Takao, who is well known for painting graffiti illegally as his hobby! After a bit of research, we conclude that he may have turned out this way due to his lack of parental guidance growing up, as his father was killed by the plague more than a decade ago, and his mother is working far away in Kyoto! Or was it Tokyo? Some large city, at any rate."

 _More sighs_.

"We will now introduce the lawyers of this case. Of course, since the charge is coming from the prosecutor, the local district attorney will serve as a representative, and they have already arrived. On the other hand, unfortunately, Mr. Takao does not seem to have any form of legal representation. The trial will now begin, are there any objections?"

"Objection."

Immediately, everyone's heads turn to stare at the person in the back row, who merely pushes his black framed glasses further up his nose. "Will that objection be entertained?"

The man's eyes widen slightly. "O-of course, what is the n-nature of your objection?"

"I am here to serve as legal representation for Takao Kazunari. Do you insist upon examining my qualifications?"

"N-no, that will… that will not be necessary. Please approach the second podium on your right, Mr…?"

"Midorima Shintaro."

Takao twists his head a few times, eyes darting around in confusion. "…Wait…What?"

 **A/N: So it's finished. Decent chapter this time, 5k words :) Yes, Akashi and Kagami are both important to the ending of the story, which should take place around chapter 10 or 11 depending on how much I write in the next few chapters (they should be pretty loaded). R &R if you want :) **


	8. Poker Face

A/N: Sorry for not updating, school life was crushing me . I'm getting closer to finishing, only a few more chapters left here D: _The end is near…_ Haha :D Enjoy~

* * *

/

" _Objection_."

The word echoes and bounces around in Takao's ears for a few minutes before his half-dead, half-delirious mind finally processes it. Or more importantly, the voice behind it.

"…Shin-chan?" The word flies out of his lips before he can stop it, and Takao immediately covers his mouth with both his hands at the glare he receives from Midorima. "Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry-"

"Excuse me, but is beginning the trial in order?" Midorima states in a harsh, firm voice.

"O-of course," the man squeaks. "U-um, if I may, the judge seems to be late-"

"Late? Of course not." A tall brunette with a ridiculously cheery smile walks in, unnaturally cradling a wooden gavel with his inhumanely-sized, gigantic hands. "I'm here, we can start."

"A-alright, since the final judge is here, I w-will now yield my rights to him for the trial."

The judge merely smiles again, and Takao can't help but think that whoever he is, this man does not belong in the tense airs of a court room.

"Excellent, why don't we begin our case analysis, and argument identification? Would the affirmative side, or the prosecutor, please step up and present their argument to the house?"

"Of course. We find Mr. Takao Kazunari guilty for-"

"Apologies, but only the true authoritative jurisdictional body of this city can find people guilty- in this case, that would mainly be me. Would you mind rephrasing that really quick?" The brunette's smile only grows.

The opposing lawyer scowls. "Sorry sir. Yes, we believe that Mr. Takao should be charged for his blatant vandalism of the town fountain."

"Alright. Now, would the defending side like to comment?"

Midorima pushed his black framed glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "Of course. Takao Kazunari is innocent, and has been falsely accused of committing atrocious acts."

"Very good. Position statements seem to be completed and clear. We will now proceed with evidence presentation and eventual rebuttals. Once that is through, we will continue in a quasi-jury style, where the jury will debate before voting on their ultimate decision." The judge sweeps a long arm out towards a group of people sitting isolated from the others.

Takao shudders at the thought of these people voting on his fate. And then, a voice scoffs next to his ear. "You don't actually think I'll _lose_ , do you?"

Tilting his head up in wonder, Takao can only stare after his green-haired friend- and also crush- as the debate proceeds.

Midorima clears his throat as the prosecutor pulls up picture after picture of the destroyed fountain. "This proves _nothing_. These are merely pictures of the present, of what has already happened- what needs to be shown is evidence of the _past_ , so the house as well as the jury will be able to make accurate decisions according to _how_ it happened." The audience members seem to be nodding along with looks of slight understanding.

After the courtroom transitions into a sort of awkward silence, Midorima finally decides to speak up. "Are you finished?"

The other lawyer nods scathingly.

"Very well. Here is what _I_ have to say on this matter. Firstly, I would like to establish that it is quite reasonable for people to believe it is Takao. The fountain is covered in graffiti, a form of street art that my client Takao Kazunari is often associated with. However, is the crowd, the opposition, and the jury not aware that this is, perhaps, _too_ easy to connect? The alleged "connection" between this atrocious crime and my client is so obvious, even a second grader would be able to see it. It's almost as if the _real_ mastermind behind this _wants_ us to be fooled by his antics- to be fooled into believing the crime was committed by Takao."

Once again, Midorima's persuasive tone and clever words seem to be taking a slight effect on everyone else around him in the room, as they turn to each other with questioning glances.

"Secondly; I have pulled up a thorough file complete with high definition photographs of Takao's previous work. As you can see, there are _major_ differences in art style. For example, the usage of bright colors and eye-movement- the fountain clearly has no sense of direction, whereas this previously done piece-" Midorima points to a photograph on his right- "shows a very deliberate sense of balance. Any art student would be able to see a difference. The hues of the colors interact in a very complex manner. All of my client's pieces demonstrate an intricate sense of unity. This fountain does not fit in with his other works."

People are leaning forwards to see the photograph comparisons, beginning to understand. A bearded man nods towards his wife, muttering some incoherent things about how the fountain does seem to have a different sort of aesthetic- well actually, no aesthetic appeal at all.

"Thirdly, the house should acknowledge the fact that there is simply _zero_ incentive or motivation for a crime on this level." Midorima gestures grandly towards Takao. "Between his sick grandmother and stressed out single parent working in a foreign city, Takao Kazunari has no room for a crime on this degree of atrocity. It is not only illogical, but also ridiculous and stupid, please pardon the language. With the previous points in mind, I would like the house to acknowledge the evident _innocence_ of Takao Kazunari. Thank you."

Everyone around them is finally lightening up, seeming to agree with Midorima on his points. Some are already throwing Takao piteous glances and looks of regret.

"Wait!" the prosecutor yells. He turns and glares at his lawyer, gesturing for him to move out of the way. "Of course your points are all very well and such, but the question remains- Who exactly vandalized the fountain? If you want to free Mr. Takao's guilt, you will have to provide a person to take his place for the charge."

Immediately, worried, Takao turns to Midorima. Surprisingly, however, the other male is smirking. Widely. Smartly.

"Of course, I thought you would ask that. I would like to point out that I am under _no_ obligation to _replace_ my client with another potentially guilty charge, as the motion of today's debate is whether or not Takao Kazunari is guilty. Another person being guilty should be irrelevant to the jury's decision, although if it were true, it would seek only to help the affirmative side."

The man glared.

Midorima maintained a careful poker-face expression.

The room relapses into a silence.

Finally…

"Excellent!" The judge booms. "Then, we will allow the jury to debate, discuss, and accuse before the final vote. You may converse among yourselves while waiting."

The entire room erupts into a soft, subdued chatter, but Takao is utterly silent. Next to him, Midorima stands stiffly, wiping his glasses with a cloth produced from his suit pocket. It's likely an old-fashioned handkerchief.

"Is that a handkerchief?"

"Shh," Kuroko hushes as Aomine's loud voice echoes around the court room, causing more than a few people to stare at them.

"What? I'll speak as loud as I want to, Tetsu." More stares.

"Aomine-kun, please use your inside voice, we don't want to be forcefully removed from the facilities before the trial results are announced," Kuroko murmurs soothingly as if talking to a young child.

"Che." Aomine scoffs and tries not to snicker at the expressions of the old ladies around them wearing their fancy hats and tailored jackets. "It's just a case," he grumbles.

He receives a sharp rib-jab for that.

"I thought the judge would be someone else. He doesn't look like the man in the paper about that trial a week ago…" Kuroko murmurs thoughtfully.

Aomine immediately perks up and knowing something Kuroko doesn't. "Oh, yeah, the usual judge is sick so we got a substitute. What's his name again? Judge Ki…Kiyo? Kiyo Teppi? Huh…"he trails off, trying to remember the guy's name.

Kuroko sweatdrops. "You don't mean… Kiyoshi Teppei, do you?"

"Aha! That's the one."

"How odd. Doesn't he have another job?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure he actually works at that fancy restaurant downtown," Aomine mutters.

Suddenly, Kuroko elbows Aomine.

"Oww, what was that for, Tetsu?"

"Hm? Oh, my apologies. I was just trying to get your attention."

"…and why would you want to do that?"

Kuroko raises his right arm and gestures. "Because Kise-kun and Kasamatsu-san are sitting together over there."

Aomine immediately tries to locate them, craning his neck to distinguish their position. "Wait, where? I don't see them. There?" He points.

"Aomine-kun, please refrain from pointing, it's rude."

"I don't give a crap. Where are they?"

Kuroko sighs before grabbing the back collar of Aomine's shirt and yanking his head down diagonally right, so that Kasamatsu and Kise are visible.

"Ohhh, I see them. Why are they here?"

"…?" Kuroko shrugs awkwardly.

"Wait are they dating?"

Kuroko sighs and prays that the jury finishes their decision making quickly, because being stuck with a bored Aomine who is in the mood for gossip is certainly not fun.

And then, the door to the jury-discussion room opens.

/

For a moment, Takao is blinded. It's like one of those cheesy Hollywood movies where the main character is enlightened and sees the truth, but he can't help his look of awe when the jury finally comes out, looking formal and confident.

The entire courtroom falls silent, ready to listen to whatever the jury has to say.

"After a long, thorough discussion, we the jury have finally concluded the decision process using a referendum; with twelve votes for and zero votes against, we believe that Takao should be pronounced not-guilty."

Kiyoshi smiles again before picking up the gavel. "Not guilty!" _Thwack!_

A thunderous round of applause tears through the entire room, with even old women approaching Takao for congratulations. He stands, rather lost, in the middle of the traditional, wooden room, watching as one by one people file out. And then a hand is on his shoulder, firmly gripping it. "Ahem." Midorima clears his throat.

Takao turns around to stare at his childhood friend, still slightly in shock; they haven't spoken to each other since the beginning of the trial. Midorima shifts stiffly.

And that's when Takao loses it.

The river of tears cascades down his cheeks in an endless waterfall as he sniffs, trying to hold them back. Startled, Midorima jumps backwards, becoming panicked by Takao suddenly bursting into tears. "W-wait, oi, don't cry!"

Takao lets out another choked sob, trying to hold back his cries and sniffles. Midorima instinctively leans in and wraps a long arm around the other boy, rubbing his back soothingly. "Takao, why are you crying? You need to tell me what's wrong or I can't help you," he breathes.

And Takao just keeps on crying, because he simply can't stop.

Midorima embraces the other boy, trying to stop his cheeks from flushing. "W-was I too mean?" He pushes his glasses up his nose by habit.

Takao wordlessly shakes his head; he can feel Midorima's suit starting to get wet under his heavy onslaught of tears, but he can't bring himself to pull away (he'll probably get yelled at for it tomorrow, but at least that means Midorima will be talking to him again).

And by then, Midorima stops asking, because everything that lies between them is something that can't be put into words- it's something that only they understand; something that really doesn't need to be put into words. Not now, not ever.

"So… do you wanna head back?" Midorima murmurs somewhat awkwardly. "We can grab some food if… you're… hungry?" He sounds uncertain, and Takao really isn't sure why.

He looks up and beams despite his swollen eyes. "Alright! But I needa grab some money first so is it alright if we-"

Midorima shakes his head. "I'm paying."

Takao's jaw drops down, down down, until he thinks he can hear it hit the floor. "S-Shin-chan you-"

Midorima scowls. "Shut it, Bakao. Let's go."

"But-"

" _Let's go_ ," Midorima repeats through gritted teeth, turning away.

"Awhh, is Shin-chan blushing?"

"You know, I liked you more when you were crying."

"Hey, that's mean!"

At the same time, they turn around to look back.

Their bantering fades away into mere echoes and gentle rings as the court room floods with the yellow light of the afternoon sun, eventually lapsing into a soothing silence. The light glints off of the gavel, and for a moment, everything in the room is glowing gold, like the sun is smiling upon their world.

And really, everything is, for that moment at least… good.

/

/

"It's chilly," Aomine nudges Kuroko. "Are you sure you don't want another-"

"Yes, Aomine-kun, I am sure that I do not need your jacket. I am completely fine."

"The goosebumps up your arms tell me otherwise."

Kuroko sticks out his tongue a bit childishly. "What goosebumps?"

Aomine laughs and decides to take a leap of faith by putting his right arm around the bluenette's slim shoulders.

He feels Kuroko tense for a second, but takes it as a good sign when he doesn't pull away, choosing instead to slowly relax into the warmth.

 _Score._

Aomine clears his throat. "So… you doing anything today?"

"Huh?"

"Like… after this. Any plans?"

Kuroko raises an eyebrow. "Depends. Do you perhaps have any suggestions?"

Aomine feels his fingers twitch, wanting to awkwardly rub his neck or scratch the roots of his hair. "Maybe. Are you open to any proposals?"

Kuroko shrugs. "Perhaps. Depends on what you have to offer."

Aomine racks his mind, wondering what Kuroko will like. And then suddenly, he mentally leans back and asks himself what _he_ will like. The concept of a date is mutual, isn't it? Suddenly, Aomine feels an awkward buzzing against his thigh. Kuroko immediately leans away and pulled out his phone, answering it casually before freezing up.

"Grandmother! How are you? Are you alright? Is the hospital treating you well? Do you need anything? Are you-"

Aomine resists the urge to chuckle, finding it truly amazing how talkative Kuroko is capable of being when it comes to an area he is concerned or interested about. Aomine marvels at how the smaller boy is ranting to his grandmother about the unfairness of hospitals. It's absolutely adorable. Not that he has a cute-complex or anything.

"Hm? Million? Thanks a lot of money…" Kuroko murmurs, seeming to tone down his excitement by a notch.

Leaning in slightly, Aomine hears an old female's voice: "Will you be able to get it?"

"…Of course," Kuroko lies, and Aomine notices how his fingers clench tighter against the phone case, digging into the plastic. "I'll get it."

"Ok, thank you dear. Be safe. I heard about what happened to Midorima's friend, please send him my good wishes." Aomine isn't sure if it's just the static of the phone line, or if the woman's voice is really that raspy and tired.

"Yeah. Of course."

"Alright, good by dear."

"Bye."

He flips the phone shut and stares at it for a bit.

Aomine frowns and leans a bit closer. "What's wrong?"

Kuroko's lips twitch slightly, before tugging themselves into a grim line that complements his hooded eyes like an eraser to a pencil. "My grandmother needs treatment."

"…Is it bad?"

The soft shrug accompanied by a terse nod confirms his fears. "So what are you going to do?"

Kuroko hesitates. "Not sure. Get money? Maybe take a few pictures for people, sell some stuff, I don't know. Don't want to know sometimes."

Aomine tips his head up and looks at the red leaves swirling in the autumn sky. He closes his eyes and sucks in a deep breath, reveling in the crispness of the cool air. "How much do you need?"

"Something around a million. Maybe 500,000 if we're lucky, but there's no guarantee. The doctor is working on personalized medicine for her."

Aomine grimaces. "A million… that's going to be difficult. Really difficult."

"Yeah."

A dreary, heavy silence falls over them, and an unspoken agreement where they both decide to head back to the parlor before deciding anything falls between them.

/

/

Aomine's bed is soft.

Kuroko's head rests against one of the worn yet feathery pillows, his arm half-tucked into a maroon blanket. Aomine's feet are pushed up against the bed end, and Kuroko slides an arm under his own stomach. Some days are brighter then others, but darker days make brighter nights in Aomine's books.

"Do you want dinner?" Kuroko whispers softly, listening to the bed covers rustle as Aomine flips over onto his back.

"Yeah."

"Me too."

Neither of them move. It's dark. Darker then Kuroko remembers Aomine's room being. He doesn't remember the walls being navy blue either. But then again, he's only been there once.

"We should get up," Aomine mutters.

"Yeah," Kuroko breathes.

They don't move.

And then Aomine sits up suddenly and it takes Kuroko's eyes a bit of time to adjust. It's not every day that a figure goes shooting up in the dark, a wild look in their eyes.

"I got it."

"Got what?"

"An idea. You need money, right? And you need it fast."

Kuroko slowly nods along. He isn't sure where the idea is going. But then again, since when is he ever sure what thought slide through the avalanche of Aomine's mind?

"A casino. That's the only way."

"…You're kidding." That avalanche seems to have the unfortunate effect of crushing people in the form of brain cells whenever it makes an effort to do anything. And no, that statement is _probably_ not derogatory?

"Come on. You need money, and fast. It's the best way."

"…I wasn't aware that anyone actually _earned_ money in a casino…"

But it's not like they have a choice.

Or he has a choice.

/

/

The chimes startle him.

Himuro glances up, prepared to help another customer. It's been quite a day- three shipping address mix-ups (really, why does no one seem to understand that just because he lives _near_ Tokyo doesn't mean that his store is in Tokyo?), two difficult asshole customers, and three cups of coffee. But even all of that doesn't prepare him for what he finds- a slightly sweaty Murasakibara standing in the doorway awkwardly, looking like he wants to say something but can't get the proper words out. Himuro stands up hastily and ushers him in, flipping the sign to read 'closed'. He has a feeling this is going to take awhile.

"Uh… Tea?" He finally suggests weakly, making some stupid set of weird gestures that even he himself can't interpret.

"…Tea," Murasakibara mumbles with a nod. "Tea."

When Himuro gets into the back room, it's like he's done it a billion times before; his fingers instinctively seek out just the right type of leaves that he knows Atsu-Murasakibara will like. They sprinkle just the right amount, and he leaves them in for the perfect period of time.

Muscle memory can truly be cruel.

And when he pours the tea and Murasakibara takes a quick sip, Himuro realizes that he feels it too. The strangely _comfortable_ sense of familiarity that comes with their situation. They both look away, and Murasakibara accidentally chokes on the hot liquid, coughing. He gags, and quickly tries to swallow more tea, until he drinks too fast and the liquid is searing at his throat, his tongue, the inside of his cheeks…

"Plfttt!" he racks as the tea shoots itself out of his mouth and he hacks loudly in the aftermass. "…Sorry."

"Yeah."

It's so awkward again.

"So…" They both start at the same time.

"You first," Himuro mutters, still keeping his face slightly turned away (although for entirely different reasons this time).

The room is too hot, too cold, too bright. Everything about it is wrong. His skin crawls. He can't breathe. And so, he chokes out two small words: "I'm sorry."

There. He's said it. It's like all of the air has flooded back into the room in a big whoosh. His lungs gasp and scream in joy. Murasakibara can't help but be surprised at how hard he's breathing.

Himuro whips his head back around and stares, before lowering his chin to study the ground sullenly. "I… I'm sorry… too."

And before either of them can react, Murasakibara's arms are wrapping around Himuro's slim back, a surprise to both of them. Himuro's entire body stiffens, and his bag goes as rigid as a board. But eventually, he raises his arms and slowly (gently) hugs Murasakibara back, fingers travelling over the prominent spine.

"It's ok." God, what is with them and their newly discovered simultaneous talking? They even accept their mutual apologies at the same time, Himuro chuckles mentally.

/

/

The lights are bright. Blindingly bright. Kuroko finds himself feeling uncomfortably out of place as they enter the loud building. He cringes at the distinct smell of alcohol and smoke. Do all casino's smell like this? He's tugged out of his thoughts when Aomine's well-muscled arm slides around his waist and tugs him back. "Stay close," Aomine's minty voice whispers huskily in his ear. "You don't want to know some of these people, trust me."

And at this point Kuroko doesn't even question how _Aomine_ knows them. He's learned to move with the flow.

Aomine keeps them walking casually, at a decent pace- not to fast, not too slow. "What game do we go to?" Kuroko murmurs softly.

"Let's head into the bathroom and collect our thoughts first," Aomine suggests.

And so, that's how, a few minutes later, Kuroko finds himself leaning against a black marble wall and watching Aomine wash his hands in cold water. "Does Aomine-kun just wash his hands when he's nervous?"

"W-what? No!" Aomine scoffs and starts wiping his hands down on his black jeans, before he notices the disapproving look Kuroko gives him and stops. Kuroko reaches over and pulls out a paper towel, handing it to the other boy. Aomine silently accepts it and roughly dries his fingers. "Alright, let me explain how this works. There are a bunch of different games you see. There's the card games like black jack, poker, and the like that are only partially luck, some mostly dependent on skill. Then you have the completely chance based ones like slot machines. And of course, there are others, but I'm not all that familiar with them."

Kuroko nods slowly. "So, we should try for card games then. My luck hasn't been particularly bright lately, you?"

Aomine just shakes his head, then nods in agreement. "Cards for sure. I'm not against trying black jack, but… well, there's those who count cards, you know? 'N I just feel like we'd be at a disadvantage against them."

Kuroko nods. He hears footsteps outside; a hand rattles the doorknob hard, and they both catch the rough swearing before the voices fade. "We need to get going soon, they might be getting the management."

/

/

Himuro recognizes the shirt that Murasakibara has on at the moment to be one of those limited edition ones that come with purchasing ridiculously expensive deluxe albums. "Where'd you get your shirt?" He mumbles as he pours himself a second cup of tea.

Murasakibara looks down. "Won it at the casino, I think?"

Himuro looks down as the tea sloshes out of the cup do to his hazardous pouring. Whoops. Reaching over, he pulls a rag off of the adjacent counter top and begins to wipe away the excess liquid. "…You… gamble now?"

"Not really, went there once with a couple of buddies," Murasakibara mutters.

"…You have friends?" Himuro blurts out, before realizing how rude it sounds and hastily correcting himself; "I mean, your… friends go to the casino?"

"Mhm… We're not really friends. Aka-chin introduced us a long time ago. I've only been there twice, but one of them is at the casino all day, all night. He only plays poker."

Himuro's entire body stiffens as his eyes darken, becoming hooded. "What's his name?" He asks in a low voice. "Atsushi, tell me his name."

Murasakibara turns around confusedly. "Imayoshi Shouichi. Do you know him?"

Himuro looks up. "Yes. Yes, I do."

A/N: Imayoshi is going to be somewhat important so if you guys can't remember who this dude is, you might want to re-read chapter... 5 I think it is? He's in Himuro's flashbacks :)

/

"So no black jack."

"No black jack," Aomine confirms. "Let's just go outside and find a good table."

"How's your poker face?" Kuroko asks softly, lips twitching slightly. Aomine holds open the door for him, and he exists.

They move through the crowd, weaving in and out among different people. Aomine is once again struck by how well Kuroko's lack of presence works out in crowded situations. Eyes darting around, he notices a few poker tables off to the side. "Hey Tetsu, wanna try over there?"

Kuroko nods in agreement as they move swiftly over. "Aomine-kun, have you ever played poker?"

Aomine grins. "Nope. But there's a first time for everything right?" He checks that his wallet is still in his pocket; now would really not be a good day to get mugged, considering they pooled both their life savings together (despite Kuroko's protests that Aomine didn't have too). Slowly, they pick a table at random and start to sit down, the bright green of the surface making them a bit uncomfortable. And then, a voice sounds.

"Welcome, welcome~ I see we have two new players joining us today. Would you like to wait until this round finishes?"

They look at each other and nod mutely.

"Alright, I'll deal you in then. Any questions?"

"Nope, we're good," Aomine answers for them.

"Excellent. My name is Imayoshi Shouichi, and welcome to a wonderful night of Poker~ "

* * *

A/N: Sorry for not updating, once again. Takao and Midorima get their (somewhat) happy ending, that's one down out of five (: The story should be wrapping up within three chapters, I'm going to cry~


	9. Refuse the Risk

A/N: Hhh I'm sorry for not updating for so long… Exams are finally over, and I think it's about time I stop making excuses for myself and finish this story up.

Previously:

" _Welcome, welcome~ I see we have two new players joining us today. Would you like to wait until this round finishes?"_

 _They look at each other and nod mutely.  
_

" _Alright, I'll deal you in then. Any questions?"_

" _Nope, we're good," Aomine answers for them._

" _Excellent. My name is Imayoshi Shouichi, and welcome to a wonderful night of Poker~ "_

/

"Maybe we should watch a few rounds first, Aomine-kun…" Kuroko whispers softly, tugging on the taller boy's shirt.

Aomine cocks a brow. "I think I can pick it up quickly enough. It's just a card game for simple people anyways, we'll be fine."

Kuroko mutely nods until his eye catches the sharp, piercing gaze of Imayoushi. It's not the gaze of a friend or even a competitor; it's the gaze a hunter would give his prey. Kuroko turns back to Aomine. "No, I'd _really_ feel more comfortable if we watched a bit first."

Aomine looks like he's about to argue, but Kuroko flashes him a stubborn, insisting gaze, so he backs down (albeit _very_ grudgingly). "Ok, we'll watch a few rounds and ask that dude to explain the game, but after that we're going to jump right in."

Imayoushi's smile dims slightly, but is almost just as predatory and sharp as before. He collects the cards on the table as two of the three current players groan. "Alright, I believe that ends our current round. We're going to have a brief intermission for the existing players to count their chips, formulate a strategy, and just take a mental break. Meanwhile, I shall… _welcome_ our new players, mhm?"

A burly man frowns and speaks up. "Hey, that's not how this casino works, there's no newbie intros or anyth-" In a flash, a card is _stuck_ in the table between his index and middle finger. "I'm so sorry, _sir_ , but this is _my_ table and _I_ will be the one who decides how things are run. Now, are there anymore complaints?" Imayoushi's eyes shut again as he smiles, in a faux pleasant manner. "No? Excellent." He reaches across and _delicately plucks_ the playing card from the table. "Oh, the six of hearts. My favorite card!" He laughs.

The players look down, grumbling as they re-organize their chips and mumble things to themselves.

While looking calm on the outside, Aomine can tell how shaken up Kuroko was by the card throw. He himself has to admit that this guy probably spends way to much time around cards.

"Alright, the rules of poker are fairly simple. At first, at least." Imayoushi smirks. "Everyone is dealt two cards, which I highly recommend you keep secret from the other players. We've eliminated small and big blinds just for the sake of simplicity. As you can see, people here may have a lot going on in their wallets, but not so much going on up here, where it matters." He gestures to his head.

Kuroko turns his head discreetly to check if any of the other players heard Imayoushi's clear and obvious diss, but they all seem to be minding their own business, lost in their own respective worlds.

"Anyways, the dealer, who will change clockwise every round, will then lay out three cards, which are part of the spread. Players will either fold, check, call, or raise, depending on the strength of their cards. The dealer will flip over a fourth card, players will react, and so on, until the fifth and final card is set out. After that, there will be one final round where players can fold, change their bets, etc. before all players will reveal their cards. The one with the strongest combination wins."

"Seems straightforward," Aomine shrugs. "You get everything, Tetsu?"

Kuroko tilts his head, thinking. "Can you please explain the ranking of cards and sets and such?" He asks quietly.

Imayoushi's grin widens. "Of course. The cards are ranked according to their number value, with ace being the largest and jokers removed. Pairs are smaller than triples, which are smaller than full houses." He holds up three fingers on his right hand and two on his left, sticking them together. "Flushes are smaller than straights." He pulls out the deck of cards and elegantly manipulates them until he pulls, off the bottom, five hearts and the 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of spades. "Royal-flush-straights are the best you can get," he declares, gracefully tipping off an ace, king, queen, jack, and ten from the top. "Anything I haven't mentioned here, you'll figure out eventually. It shouldn't be _terribly_ difficult, I imagine."

That makes Kuroko think that the game will most certainly end up being rather hard. Aomine, on the other hand, laughs. "Of course, it'll be easy." He pats Kuroko heavily on the back, straightening in his seat. He places both his hands on the table in front of him. "No need to watch, let's just begin straight away."

Imayoushi smiles until his teeth flash, pearly whites turning slightly blue in the odd fluorescent lighting.

"Excellent. Then, shall we begin?"

/

/

"Ne, Muro-chin, why are we going out so late at night?" Murasakibara complains, chomping grumpily on his green-tea flavored pocky.

"Because there's something I need to do. I'm telling you, you can stay and wait for me here," Himuro sighs as he scrambles around, patting his pockets to check for his keys.

"…" Murasakibara is silent, but he doesn't sit back down, indicating that he is most definitely tagging along.

"Fine, at least put on your jacket," Himuro insists, reaching up to drape the black fabric over the purple giant's broad shoulders. "You'll catch a cold."

Pouting and grumbling at the same time, Murasakibara tucks his bag of snacks and pastries safely under his chin before shrugging the jacket on. He untucks the goodies. "So, where to?"

Himuro zips up his own coat before replying, without turning around:

"The all ages casino, of course."

/

/

"Raise by fifty," Aomine grins, casually tossing a handful of chips into the "pot". On the side, Kuroko resists the urge to facepalm, reassuring himself that _Yes, Aomine definitely knows what he's doing_ and _no, he won't lose all of their money-_

"Call." Imayoushi's voice is cold and hard, cutting through Kuroko's thoughts sharper than a whip through the air. Kuroko decides he'll give Aomine credit, though, for not so much as flinching, stiffening, or batting an eyelash.

"Raise one hundred." Aomine's voice, though casual, is monotonous, with a tone that almost rivals Imayoushi's. Kuroko shivers slightly at how quickly Aomine has gotten used to playing the game.

"Call."

"Raise 200."

"Call."

"Raise 300."

"Call."

Grimacing, Kuroko tugs at Aomine's sleeve. They've already lost half of their money during the phase which Aomine calls "luring the opponent in" (in reality, Kuroko is pretty sure that Aomine simply didn't understand the game seeing as he arrogantly practically gave away the money).

"600."

"Call."

"1000."

"Call."

"All in," Aomine declares, throwing his hands up.

"Call!" Imayoushi laughs, leaning his face closer to the chips as if he can smell the aroma of victory. "Alright, shall we reveal our cards then?"

"Yes, go ahead." Aomine smiles pleasantly.

Imayoushi tosses his two cards down. A full house. "Better luck next time, _Aomine-chan_!"

Aomine snorts. " _I_ should be the one saying that to _you_ , right? Seeing as I have a…"

He grins. "Royal straight."

Kuroko thinks, in hindsight, that he should have known something bad would happen. After all, lady luck was known for her unpredictable mood swings.

"500," Aomine calls arrogantly, loosely pushing the chips into the pot. Kuroko's brows furrow. He isn't sure if it's just him, but for the past half hour, Aomine has been tossing around his cash more and more casually; and perhaps he hasn't noticed it himself, but Kuroko, who has been keeping a mindful eye on their money, is not blind to the gradual decrease in funds.

He tugs on Aomine's sleeve, and the taller boy turns. "Don't, Tetsu. We're doing good."

Kuroko winces, before leaning over and whispering: "I think we have enough money for today. We should go back."

Aomine rolls his eyes and scoffs. "Don't be a wimp, I'm having fun. And what could possibly happen anyways? You saw my stunt, it was good. Right?"

He bites down the hesitation.

"Raise 2000," Aomine declares. Leaning over the boy's shoulder, Kuroko sees the full house that he holds.

Imayoushi smiles pleasantly and calmly. Unlike Aomine, he seems to know the true meaning of a poker face. "I call."

As they stare at each other prepared to show their cards, Imayoushi sighs. "I'm going to raise 500."

"I call," Aomine smirks. At this point, the dread in Kuroko's stomach is growing, and he nudges Aomine gently in the side to remind him that _they're not exactly rich at the moment_.

"That's an all in," Imayoushi comments, pretending to be surprised.

Aomine grins. "I know."

"If you lose this round, you can't play another game. You won't be able to afford any more starting bets."

"I know."

"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you~"

Aomine triumphantly tosses down his full house of three kings and two queens.

Imayoushi's eyes widen. "My my, what excellent luck you have, my friend!"

Aomine's lips curl wolfishly. "Luck? I don't believe in luck."

Then Imayoushi's eyes take on a sinister glint as he looks up to whisper: "Well, neither do I my friend." And as his cards fall, Kuroko knows what will be there. He has the final king. And a queen. A royal straight-flush.

They both stare at Imayoushi who wears his ever pleasant smile.

"Don't say I didn't warn you~!"

Slowly, Kuroko turns to look at Aomine, feeling worried.

Imayoushi laughed. "And now, you have no more money. In fact, you _owe_ me 400 dollars. When should I collect your debt?"

Aomine doesn't move a muscle. He doesn't say anything either. Kuroko doesn't know what to do. Should he comfort Aomine? Should he tug on his sleeve, or call his name? What is he supposed to do?

He opens his mouth to speak but-

" _Don't_." The word is snarled, softly and dangerously. And, for the first time ever, Kuroko realizes that he's _terrified_ of Aomine. His eyes are almost radiating a blue glow, and his lips are curled into a sneer.

Everything happens at once. They all watch Aomine, whose muscles are tense and flexed taut as he bores holes into the bright green of the table. And then he jumps up, leaping towards Imayoushi and shoving Kuroko out of the way. Kuroko sees Aomine's fist pull back, and he reaches out to stop him, but his arm seems to be moving in slow motion. He then opens his mouth to cry out, but realizes that Aomine will never comprehend him in time.

He desperately racks his brain for ideas to stop Aomine from getting taken away by the casino security, but… just as suddenly as it all started, it _stops_. Aomine's fist is inches away from Imayoushi's face.

At first, Kuroko doesn't know why Aomine has stopped. It takes him a moment to register that Imayoushi is actually talking.

"-and that way, if you win, I will not only wave your debt, but also give you all of this." Here, he gestures to the tantalizing pile of chips, glimmering in the fluorescent lighting as if acting as bait to lure them in. "And if you lose, of course, I'll still wave your debt. I only ask one thing." Imayoushi's smile turns a bit sharper.

"And what's that?" Aomine growls.

"A night with your friend here."

It takes Kuroko an embarrassingly long time to comprehend that it's him they're talking about.

" _What_?" Aomine demands, hitting the table. "What do you mean a night with Te-Kuroko?"

Imayoushi shrugs. "Exactly what it sounds like. A night with Kuroko. It's an excellent deal, if you think about it."

"What do you want with him?" Aomine snarls.

"Well, that's for me to know and you to find out."

"How dare you…." Aomine mutters, his entire posture radiating anger.

"Well, you two _are_ in debt to me right now, you know."

Kuroko decides to make his presence known. "I don't mind," he whispers softly, tapping Aomine's upper arm.

"No!" Aomine objects immediately. " _What are you saying_?"

Kuroko looks at him, chin held defiantly. "I'm saying that I don't mind."

"How can you say that? Do you know how much disgust rises up in me when I.. When I picture you two together?"

Kuroko bites back the surprise. What does that even mean? "Then you'll just have to win. I believe in you."

Aomine stares at him.

He slowly turns back to Imayoushi, and opens his mouth.

Kuroko closes his eyes and _prays, begs_ for lady luck to rule in their favor.

And then he feels himself being dragged away. His eyes shoot open, and he finds Aomine's strong grip tight around his arm, pulling them both away from Imayoushi.

"I won't do it. I can't risk you."

"But-"

" _No_. Let's go, Tetsu. We're going home."

As Aomine continues to tug him away, Kuroko turns to look back at Imayoushi, who is smiling.

 _You knew._

Imayoushi's smile widens.

 _You knew Aomine would never agree to that._

Imayoushi dips his head in a respectful nod before moving on to counting chips.

 _You played both of us._

/

As they exit the casino, Aomine freezes, but doesn't loosen his grip on Kuroko's arm. "Himuro?" He voices in disbelief.

A slender boy, who Kuroko recognizes as the one he had tea with after the riot in the square, turns around. "Ah. Aomine."

"Who's that, Muro-chin?" Out of the shadows, a tall purple-haired giant appears. Kuroko doesn't miss the possessive grip he has on Himuro's shoulders, and neither does Aomine, although he shows no signs of backing down.

"No need to worry, just an old customer of mine, Atsushi."

"I see your back to the first name basis again. Good to see you finally stopped sulking," Aomine grumbles.

Himuro's eyes narrow, but he waves the jab aside in favor of a question: "…What are you two doing here?" He gives Kuroko a quick nod of acknowledgement.

Aomine scowls. "None of your business. In fact, I could ask you the same question." Kuroko nudges Aomine, reminding him that there is no need to be so hostile. Himuro was nice to him, and they'd even shared tea.

Murasakibara scowls, stepping even closer to Himuro. "None of your business. We're here for personal reasons." He looks at Himuro, unsure of whether he said the right thing. Himuro nods, and adds, "I'm here because I need closure. Murasakibara is just accompanying me." Murasakibara nods fiercely.

"Well, if you don't need anything else, I suppose we'll be on our way. Good luck to you," Kuroko smiles, tugging Aomine away to prevent him from responding with another one of his deprecating comments.

"You didn't need to do that, Tetsu. I wasn't planning to say anything derogatory," Aomine grumbles as they trudge through the dark parking lot.

Kuroko rolls his eyes. "Whatever you say. I'm surprised you know the meaning of derogatory."

"Hey!" Aomine yells. "Now who's being rude?"

"I'm pleasantly surprised."

"That doesn't make it any better!"

/

When Kuroko wakes up, he finds himself tucked into the warm sheets of Aomine's guest bedroom. He blinks a few times, trying to let his eyes adjust to the light. He reaches his arms out to stretch, and lets out a small noise of surprise when his hand hits something _wet_. Twisting around in bed, he finds himself face to face with…

Aomine.

"…Did you just lick my finger?"

Aomine yawns. "No. You put your finger in my mouth. But it's ok, I forgive you. As long as you make some breakfast."

Kuroko just stares for a moment, before reluctantly tugging himself out of bed. "May I borrow some clean clothes?"

Aomine shrugs. "Sure. Looks fine on you anyways."

Kuroko nods. And then, "Please turn around, Aomine-kun. I need to change."

Aomine scoffs. "Who cares, it's not like you have anything to hide, right?" But still when Kuroko gives him a pointed look, Aomine sighs and turns around, burying his face into the soft down covers. "Fine, be that way."

After he loots through Aomine's closet, Kuroko tugs on clean white v-neck and ends up wearing a pair of Aomine's loose black boxers because none of his other pants (that are clean) fit well. Suddenly, he hears the sound of a vibration coming from the desk chair.

Aomine groans. "It's yours. Your phone's in your hoodie pocket from last night."

Kuroko quickly stumbles across the slightly messy floor and fumbles for his phone, wondering who could possibly be calling him.

"Hello?"

"Tetsuya. Where are you? I'm flying in this afternoon."

"…Wait… Akaashi-kun?"

 **A/N: Aomine (technically/basically/almost/essentially) confesses~ Short chapter, but it's all I've been able to finish. Exams are finally over, so I should be on a more regular updating schedule.**

 **If I didn't respond to your review, or if you have any questions, or if you just want to chat, feel free to drop me a PM any time!**

 **~Vieux**


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